Davenport council postpones lease for former Chapel Theater after public questions about utilities, taxes and tenant rights

The Davenport City Council on Wednesday voted to postpone a resolution that would approve a lease for the former Chapel Theater and related parking on the Annie Wittenmyer campus until the next council cycle to allow further review after public questions about the lease terms.

Why it matters: Public commenters and council members said the lease language does not match media descriptions and leaves unresolved who will pay property taxes, which utilities would be separated from the rest of the campus, and whether existing users such as Junior Theatre Incorporated would continue to have access. Council members said more time is needed to reconcile those issues before approving a long-term lease for a city-owned cultural asset.

Council business staff introduced the resolution as a lease for the former Chapel Theater and associated parking on the Annie Wittenmyer campus. Several members of the public spoke during the meeting’s public-comment period, raising consistent concerns about the lease language.

Cheryl Shachna (Third Ward) said a newspaper article quoted a city official saying the city had budgeted $1,110,600 in ARPA-generated interest for the theater transition, "including architecture and engineering services, renovation costs, furniture and storage need, a box truck for transporting scenery … and separating the utilities at the Annie Wittenmyer campus." Shachna said the lease document she read did not match that description. "It says the only utility that will be separated is water. Everything else will stay connected under the control of the landlord," she said, adding, "I also have the question about property taxes ... because it's very clearly in the lease that we are paying property taxes."

Kristen Meyer (Fourth Ward) asked the council to confirm that the lease would recognize the existing agreement allowing Junior Theatre Incorporated and city junior theater programs to use the facility. "I just want to make sure that the lease ... between the city of Davenport and Junior Theater Incorporated is going to be recognized under that," Meyer said.

Alderman McGinnis said she would move to postpone the item and later made that motion, saying council needed time to answer the public’s questions. "I'm going to be asking to postpone ... until the next cycle," she said. Council voted 8–0 to postpone; the motion carried by roll call.

Discussion versus decision: The council’s vote was procedural: postponement for further review. No lease was approved, and no terms were changed at the meeting. Members repeatedly said staff should come back with clarifications on utility separation, tax liability, and how the lease language affects existing users.

Clarifying details raised in the public record include an ARPA-related budget figure discussed in local media (reported by a commenter as $1,110,600), a discrepancy between that description and the lease language on which utilities will be separated (a commenter said the lease mentions separating only water), and an explicit lease clause quoted by a commenter: "landlord's title to the premises is and always shall be paramount to the title of the tenant," which residents said they found concerning.

Next steps: Council postponed the resolution to allow staff and council time to reconcile the lease text with public statements and to answer questions about taxes, utility separation, and Junior Theatre access. The item will return for further consideration at a later meeting; no effective date for a lease was set at Wednesday’s session.

Speakers quoted in this article spoke during public comment or council discussion and were recorded in the meeting transcript. Ending: The council’s postponement keeps the theater on the city agenda while staff and council address the listed contractual and operational questions before any lease is finalized.