To the Editor:
On July 18th, a Snohomish Sheriff’s Deputy showed up at my house loaded with gear over his bulletproof vest and holding a clipboard. He had a Trespassing Case for me to sign.
I am guilty of opening the unlocked back door of the former Lon Brown theatre building but closed it and left the property after talking with two men working in the basement. Most people call it the Pegasus Theater, as did the Deputy. Pegasus Theater Shops turned the former theater into a tourist trap and then left town for L.A.
The new owners opened a clothing store, One Common, on the first floor. But first, they removed the walls and rigging of the fly loft above the stage and installed new walls with oversized picture windows. I came upon the destruction of the fly loft during my morning walk on the Riverfront Trail in May 2020.
Stunned, as a former teacher and scenic designer, I took a picture of what I imagined to be the new owners standing on top of the truncated stage house. Later in the week, as the new walls went up, I climbed the stairs to where the crew was working and asked what they were building. I think it’s going to be a penthouse, one fellow told me!
The owners have trespassed on our historic district standards by permanently altering a 100-year-old theater building.
Warner Blake
Snohomish
