Isis Theatre is a community asset worth saving

The following letter also was sent to Aspen City Council.

Here we are again. I am wondering what can be done to save the Isis Theatre, and while I know these kinds of financial conversations come up a bit too often in Aspen, I certainly hope we, as a community, don’t turn our backs on this important asset. You might ask, what makes this any different than any other business in town and why is it worth saving? It is simply because it is the glue that can hold our community together. It is a quality way for our young people to safely enjoy a night on the town, families to spend some quality time with each other, and for people to come together and enjoy any number of quality films and now maybe other types of performing arts.

What I wonder is if the theater could be saved, become a city of Aspen space and if maybe the upper theater can be transformed into a versatile performing arts venue. Maybe organizations like JAS Aspen, Theatre Aspen, Aspen Words and other similar organizations can share the use of that upper space and make it come alive in ways it never has before.

Ultimately, I am really fearful that potentially losing such a valuable space like Isis to a private entity could forever change the feeling of our city core. We need this for all of us, and I hope you decide that it is worth saving one of the very last public historic spaces and cultural icons in a town whose character is changing exponentially.

Georgina Levey

Aspen