City of Auburn meets with Schine theater owner, pauses legal action
The city of Auburn is no longer moving to take possession of the Auburn Schine Theater after meeting with its owner recently.
Mayor Jimmy Giannettino told The Citizen Tuesday that city officials met with Bryan Bowers of theater owner Schines Theater LLC on Sept. 12. Dan Kolinski, regional director of Empire State Development, also attended the meeting because the theater's rehabilitation has qualified for $2.2 million in state grants. Giannettino noted that Bowers must spend the grants before receiving them.
The meeting was "very honest and up-front," Giannettino said. Bowers, president of Bowers Development in East Syracuse, appeared receptive to the city's concerns about his lack of communication.
"I think he was getting over COVID and what it did to his business, and we can appreciate that," Giannettino said. "We're just asking that he communicate and move this thing forward."
Bowers did not respond to a request by The Citizen for comment. Giannettino said they are trying to schedule a follow-up meeting.
The meeting came weeks after code enforcement posted a certification of abandonment in the front doors of the Schine, giving the city legal grounds to take possession of the 16 South St. theater in court. Giannettino said the city hoped the certification would bring Bowers "to the table with a viable path forward" for the project, which does not appear to have progressed for several years.
Aside from another missing panel in its rusty marquee and more fingertip tracings in its dusty glass, nothing about the Auburn Schine Theater appears to have changed recently.
While the city has paused the legal action as a result of the meeting with Bowers, Giannettino noted that the Schine owner still owes taxes on the property. As of May, the LLC owed $19,208.01, having last paid in January 2022. Officials at the meeting made clear to Bowers that the debt has to be paid, the mayor continued, or else the city will resume moving to take possession of the theater.
The city also asked Bowers to prioritize the removal and restoration of the theater's marquee and the repair of code violations like the broken windows in the front doors and ticket booth, Giannettino said. Bowers previously told the city the marquee would be restored in the fall of 2020, and again in the fall of 2022, but the most visible part of the historic art deco theater continues to deteriorate.
"(Bowers) seemed receptive to that," the mayor said. "He said that any time you have a real estate development project you kind of have to keep your cards close to your vest. I said that you don't have to disclose every single minute detail, but we need to give the public updates that this thing is moving maybe not fast, but moving forward. He seemed receptive to that, too."
Bowers has estimated the theater's rehabilitation into a multi-purpose performing arts and event venue would cost about $6 million. The project is in line to receive a $1.2 million grant from the Central New York Regional Economic Development Council and a $1 million Restore New York grant awarded to the city on the Schine's behalf. Both grants were announced more than five years ago.
The work the Schine requires and the amount of money it will cost make the project unfeasible for the city to undertake, Giannettino said, which is why he's hopeful about his meeting with Bowers.
"We want the project to move forward. He's the owner, and we'd like to see it move forward with him," the mayor said.
"Anything short of that is starting all over."
Executive Editor David Wilcox can be reached at (315) 282-2245 or .
Executive editor
