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Residents urge town to find options to preserve Howell Theatre after reported sale
Summary
Citizens told the council they fear the historic Howell Theatre will be gutted if a reported sale to a church goes forward; speakers urged the town to explore options though staff said the transaction is a private sale and town authority is limited.
Several residents asked the Town of Smithfield to explore options to preserve the Howell Theatre after learning the property is under contract with a church that some speakers said intends to gut the building.
Amy Plant Purdue, a downtown resident and volunteer, told council she started a petition opposing the theater’s destruction that had gathered more than 1,200 signatures by the time of the meeting. She asked the town to consider acquiring the building, designating it as historic, or supporting a buyer who would restore it. "I did everything that I could," she said, and asked council to "do everything that's in your ability to save the theater."
Another speaker, Jeff Hamilton, asked whether existing town rules prohibit churches in the downtown historic district; staff and council said the town previously had a restriction that had to be changed to comply with state law and that zoning would not necessarily bar a church at the location. The mayor and the town attorney said the reported transaction is a private sale and that the town’s ability to intervene is limited absent a zoning application or other land‑use request.
Council members acknowledged the public concern and expressed a preference to see the theater remain in a public or cultural use, but they said no zoning application or other regulatory filing was before the town at the meeting. Council encouraged community members to continue exploring alternatives and noted private contract protections limit town intervention at the current stage.
