BELFAST, Maine — The Belfast Opera House theater is under new ownership after an Islesboro couple, Kendra and Alex Brigham, who live in Arizona, purchased the multipurpose building.
The opera house has been a part of the Belfast community since it was built between 1866 and 1868. The building is listed as a historical marker and is home to several commercial and retail business tenants who rent storefront space. Some of the building is also used for apartments, but the actual theater on the second floor of the building hasn't been in use for more than 30 years because of necessary renovations.
Within the last few years, the Brighams also purchased the building at the corner of 121 Main St., which is a storefront for Jaret & Cohn Real Estate; a vacant building located at 126 Church St.; the building that houses Edward and Jones Financial Group located at 132 Church St.; the Craig Olson bookstore located at 99 Main St.; and two other properties.
The property manager for the Brighams' many properties, Earl MacKenzie, said the couple plans to pour life back into the Belfast community, creating more affordable housing and bringing the theater back to life.
The previous owners, Cara Guerreri and her husband, Frank Owen, owned the Belfast Opera House for 27 years.
"I think we just decided that it was someone else's turn with the building," Guererri said.
Guerreri said she and her husband applied for grants for private owners of historic buildings and tried everything imaginable to secure the funding they would need to renovate the theater and renew the space to a usable condition.
"We went all in for that grant and didn’t get the grant and other very worthy places in Maine did get some funding through that process," Guerreri said. "I would periodically mention to the city some city officials in Belfast, 'Hey, you should really buy our building and the city could own its own opera house,' but the city was never in the position to do that either."
Business owners at storefronts in the opera house said they didn't know what to expect when they found out Guerreri and Owen were selling the building.
"When the previous owners of the building told us that they were looking to sell, my co-owner and I here went, 'Oh no,'" Julia Clapp, who co-owns Left Bank Books, said. "What's going to happen to the space? What's going to happen to the building? Our business life kind of flashed right before our eyes."
Clapp said although she trusts that Guerreri and her husband would put the building in good hands, she was unsure about whether she would be able to keep her storefront under the new ownership.
Clapp said she asked herself, "What would new ownership mean? Would it mean we couldn’t be here anymore?"
She said she also feared that her monthly rent would spike.
Dennis Howard, the owner of Opera House Video, said he, too, had the same fear.
"We are a video rental store in 2023, and we’ve survived so much competition and challenges," he said. "The last few years have been the hardest for all retail businesses."
Howard said much of the reason his business has been able to thrive in an era where DVD rentals are no longer popular can be attributed to the previous owners. Howard said Guerreri and Owen never drastically increased monthly rent, despite constant inflation and changes in the economy.
"Knowing that they had seen this business through two previous sets of owners before me made me feel like they’re really supportive," Howard said. "To allow us to be here this long, and also the playhouse a couple doors down which is a nonprofit performing arts space with only 42 seats, I knew that these landlords were not all about just making lots of money."
Howard said he was a little alarmed when the Brighams started to buy up multiple properties up and down the block, all relatively close to each other or within walking distance.
"I do always have a healthy skepticism and fear of too much gentrification — of rents going up, property values going too high and that driving natives away or anybody who doesn’t have a sizeable amount of income," he said.
Clapp said she believes the Belfast Opera House theater is an essential part of the Belfast community.
"Frederick Douglass spoke here once, and it's just a wonderful historic site," she said.
MacKenzie said the couple has no intentions to change the historical, original structure of the Opera House.
MacKenzie is from Belfast and he and Alex Brigham are longtime family friends. MacKenzie said they love Belfast and cherish its history.
"Belfast way back was definitely the queen community of Penobscot Bay and mid-coast Maine, and the Opera House was a big part of that," MacKenzie said. "We’re not looking to change the town; these are long-term acquisitions we have no intention of selling."
MacKenzie also said the Brighams' goal is not to gentrify the Belfast community or to strip it of its uniqueness.
"There’s a very strong sense of community in Belfast, and we really like that, and we want to be a part of that," MacKenzie said. "We put a great deal of thought into everything we do to not disrupt that."
MacKenzie said he and the Brighams plan to renovate the theater and reopen it for use, but he said it will be a multi-year project being that the theater needs a lot of work.
According to MacKenzie, the theater's sprinkler system has to be updated, walls need to be repainted with lead-free paint, and various lodgings in the theater need to be restored amongst several other safety hazards that need correction.
Guerreri said she is pleased with the sale because the last thing she wanted was to hand the building over to a new owner who would chop the building up and separate it into condos. Guerreri said the Brighams' love for Belfast and its history made giving up the building easier.
When business owners found out about the Brighams' plan to keep the Opera House's original structure and soon reopen the theater, their worries were put at ease.
"I think that I’m most excited by the claim that the Opera House will be up and running again at some future date," Howard said. "I was lucky enough to be up there for the last show 32 years ago, Alice in Wonderland in the summer of 1991 starring my friend. And after, that the doors closed."
Clapp said "it would be wonderful" to see the theater come back.
According to Howard, the people of Belfast and even tourists would agree.
"Almost every day in the summer, we hear from people in this store, from away tourists who have discovered the town, and wonder 'What is the deal with the opera house upstairs? Wouldn’t it be great if that could be used for something?" Howard said. "And, I think, for the first time in a long time, we’re all positive that will happen again."