Historic NKY theater will become brewery

Bellevue has found someone to bring the historic Marianne Theater back to life after the site sat vacant for 17 years.

The city council this week accepted a proposal by Cincinnati developer Kent Hardman to turn the theater into a brewery.

While some might balk at the idea of another brewery in the crowded Cincinnati brewing landscape, city officials believe the revamped Marianne will be different. They believe the brewery will be a destination. The developer wants to retain the stage, screen and theater seating for live shows or movies in addition to adding the brewery.

The building that carries a high sentimental value for Northern Kentucky residents because of the movies they saw there. So it’s important Hardman wants to have entertainment as part of the business, said Jody Robinson, Bellevue’s assistant city administrator and Main Street manager.

“We have this incredible architectural gem that people hold near and dear in their hearts,” Robinson said. “It’s been deteriorating for so, so long. Now there’s a bright future on the horizon.”

The Art Deco theater built 73 years ago has sat vacant on Bellevue’s main drag of Fairfield Avenue while the rest of the street has thrived with stores, restaurants and coffee shops.

The city bought the theater in 2014 for $138,000 with the hopes of turning back to some use. But a rehab will cost more than $1 million by city estimates, so officials sought outside help. The city contracted with the Catalytic Fund to market the building to developers.

The long wait to get someone to revive the building was frustrating, said Robinson, who has worked for the city since 2006.

“This building felt like a failure to me,” she said. “It is an amazing piece of architecture and nothing was happening.”

But now, that feeling is gone.

Hardman would like to have the brewery and theater open within a year, but he won’t know how much work needs done until he gets into the building.

He has a brewer lined up but said he’s not ready to reveal the brewer’s identity. The facade will remain intact. What types of shows will play at the theater – live acts or movies – also remains to be determined.

“That is our vision, for it to be more than just a brewery,” Hardman said. “For it to be a community gathering space for Bellevue is important.”

Historic buildings catch his eye. He rehabbed Cincinnati’s oldest firehouse into Fireside Pizza in Walnut Hills. This will be the second historic theater he’s renewed. He turned the old Jackson Theater in Columbia Tusculum into apartments and a salon.

The Marianne sits near Bellevue’s border with Dayton, where there are fewer businesses than by the border with Newport. Robinson hopes the Marianne will bring more business to the border area.

“It’s going to be somewhere that the community can share in,” she said.