Updated April 17.
Oak Bluffs voters have solidified their decision that it’s time their town intervene and take control of the Island Theatre.
Throughout the day, voters across three towns — Oak Bluffs, Edgartown, and West Tisbury — cast their votes for various, mostly uncontested races and ballot questions at annual town elections on Thursday.
And in Oak Bluffs, ballot question number four, which allows the town to advance a debt exclusion to raise property taxes to fund up to $5 million for an eminent domain process to seize the Island Theatre, was approved 451-162 in the election held at the town library. The $5 million includes various costs associated with the eminent domain process, such as initial improvements, legal fees, planning, and demolition of the theater. The actual development of the property is not included. According to the warrant article from the annual town meeting and the ballot question, buying the theater isn’t off the table, and brothers Brian Hall and Benjamin Hall Jr., who own the property, said the asking price has been $2.8 million. Even if the building is taken by eminent domain, the Halls would need to be compensated by the town.
The Island Theatre has sat empty on Circuit Avenue since 2012 and has been a source of frustration for the town. It was previously labeled as unsafe in 2016, leading to court-ordered work to make the theater structurally sound in 2017. Meanwhile, the Halls have said that various factors, including wastewater limitations deterring potential investors, left the property in limbo.
The Halls own various properties on the Vineyard, the most noticeable being the properties that have long stood without tenants, such as the Island Theatre in Oak Bluffs and the Capawock Theatre in Tisbury.
It is not yet certain what the town plans to do with the building, although any proposal would require voter approval. The Halls can also challenge the town’s decision in court. And they aren’t strangers to eminent domain; the Halls unsuccessfully tried to block Edgartown’s 2017 decision to take the Yellow House in court. The building in Edgartown is now a Lululemon store.
Approval of the ballot question came after a Wednesday vote during the Oak Bluffs annual town meeting’s second night, when voters approved 164-31 for the town to proceed with the eminent domain process to take the Island Theatre. It still needed to be approved at the polls on Thursday, which occurred.
Benjamin Hall Jr. told The Times after the vote that they are still reviewing the article’s language and “whether there’s enough public purpose described.” Hall said people interested in possibly acquiring the theater have reached out to him with “hopes we would work with them over the town.” But Hall again highlighted that there wasn’t enough wastewater available for the building at this time, and it was likely only the town that would be able to provide the needed flow.
“If the building is torn down without a plan for immediate rebuilding of something there, I fear the public will continue to look at the perhaps worse look of the side of the neighboring building, which is likewise aged and needs reconstruction,” Hall said. He added that the owners’ plans had been to “endorse the best project done privately that would enhance the town community” and that the theater’s location at the heart of Oak Bluffs deserves to be a “grand project.”
Three other ballot questions also passed in Oak Bluffs: 455-166 for a $1.9 million override to fill a gap in the town budget, 473-132 to borrow up to $1 million for flood resiliency improvements for the pump station on Dukes County Avenue, and 476-133 to borrow up to $825,000 to design and engineer sewer extension in the Lagoon Pond watershed and wastewater upgrades.
And 457 Oak Bluffs voters also elected Bill Cleary as a new select board member. He ran uncontested.
“Looks like there’s been a good turnout,” Cleary said at the library, holding a sign. “There’s a lot of big articles that the voters are really thinking about, and it’s awesome to see them come and support the town, and I’m looking forward to doing the job.”
Meanwhile, in Edgartown, 389 voters elected a new select board member, Julia Tarka, at their election in town hall. Town officials noted voters submitted a large number of write-in candidates.
“Sometimes people write in the name but not fill in the circle,” Karen Medeiros, Edgartown town clerk, said. “We will hit every single ballot, so even if the [voting] machine doesn’t count it as a write-in we will.”
Edgartown voters also approved two ballot questions: 370-79 for a $900,090 override to fill a gap in the town budget and 352-99 to allow the town to assess an additional $500,000 in real estate and personal property taxes to purchase the Boys and Girls Club building on 4 M Daniels Lane.
In West Tisbury, the majority of voters, who cast their ballots at the town’s public safety building, decided to keep the status quo in the select board race between incumbent Jessica Miller, who won 461 votes, and political newcomer Garrison Vieira, who received 212 votes.
Miller previously said this will be her last term on the board.
“It feels good,” Miller told The Times. “I worked really hard at it over the past four years, so it feels good that people like what I’m doing and trust me to continue doing it.”
Vieira, who was at the public safety building on Thursday evening, congratulated Miller for her victory.
“It’s not two separate teams,” Vieira said. “We’re not competitive at each other’s throats. We want the same intentions for the town, and [we’re both] putting those efforts forward.”
West Tisbury voters also approved two ballot questions: 436-241 for a $3.49 million override to fill a gap in the town budget and 481-194 for a $2 million override to repair or replace the HVAC system at the town’s police station.
Nicholas Vukota and Sarah Shaw Dawson contributed to this report.
Editor’s note: Updated with comments from Benjamin Hall Jr., new vote counts from Oak Bluffs and West Tisbury, and additional photos.
We the people have spoken.
No more more Hall fire traps.
The voters have spoken . It will be interesting to follow how this plays out .
1. Ben Hall telling (or suggesting to) us what to do with the debilitated rat-infested property is a bit rich, don’t you think?
2. Congratulations to people who ran for and won offices, including Mr. Cleary. Could he take his signs down now? Thank you!