North Point Church: Church makes former Town |amp| Country 6 theater home

With 80 gallons of paint, 300 yards of carpet and a lot of old-fashioned elbow grease, James River Assembly of God is converting the former Town & Country 6 theater at 2711 N. Kansas Expwy. into a church.

North Point Church, a spinoff of James River Assembly, reached a deal this summer to lease the 20,000-square-foot space from Town & Country Shopping Center owner Resource Development Inc. North Point Church plans to hold its first services there Sept. 7. In the meantime, members of James River Assembly are donating their time to make cosmetic changes: freshly painted walls, new carpet and trim, among other things.

While it's not the ideal tenant that leasing agent Ken Schwab, of Wilhoit Properties, had in mind for the space he courted several theater operators since Goodrich Quality Theaters vacated it last December North Point Church is a viable tenant, Schwab said.

North Point senior pastor Tommy Sparger said the church signed a five-year lease agreement, with an option to vacate after two years. Neither party would disclose the lease rate, but according to Schwab's Web site, www.kenschwab.com, the Town & Country theater space was listed at $10 per square foot, with a $2 per square foot common area maintenance rate.

Schwab contacted some big-name theaters about the space: Regal Entertainment Group, Loews Theaters, AMC Theatres, Carmike Cinemas, Cinetech Inc. and Cinemark USA Inc.

"They required a greater density of theaters," Schwab said. "In most cases, they told us we didn't have enough screens for them."

The former Town & Country 6 operator thinks there's more to it than the number of screens; Robert Goodrich of Goodrich Theaters wondered at the time of closing if a movie house could be profitable in north Springfield.

"After every theater on the north end of Springfield has lost money for over 20 years, for somebody else to come in doesn't make any sense," Goodrich said last December.

Mediocre ticket sales and scarce profits caused Goodrich Theaters to close Town & Country 6 with a year still left on its lease. RDI officials questioned Goodrich's internal operations.

Another north Springfield theater, North Town Mall Cinema, closed its doors in 1998. That space also was leased by a church for a short time.

Theaters and religion

Religion and the theater business have crossed paths before in Springfield.

Abundant Life Covenant Church, 157 Park Central Square, is a local pioneer in the movement; it purchased the former Fox Theater from Dickinson Theatres in 1985.

"It was cutting edge," said A. Wilson Phillips, senior pastor and founder of Abundant Life Ministries of Springfield Inc. "It was something that many people felt would not last."

Phillips said it takes a strong vision and a little improvisation. "We stayed with our vision and the message the Lord has given us and developed a solid nucleus of about 200 congregation (members)," Phillips said. "It has worked well for us."

Churches have sought space in shopping centers as well.

River of Life Lutheran Church has held services in Shadowood Plaza shopping center, another RDI property, for about four years.

However, the church is building a new facility off of Highway 60 in Rogersville, to be complete in October. Pastor Jim Buckman said the financial advantages of leasing led his congregation down that path before building.

"We didn't have a capital funds campaign," he said. "We didn't have a church that could afford (to build)."

But with low interest rates, the church was able to establish a mortgage payment cheaper than its lease payment of $5,500 per month.

Buckman points to advantages for landlords as well. Leasing to nonprofits may allow landlords a tax write-off, he said.

"It may be in a landlord's best interest to give you a lower rate, or a free rate, so they can claim it as a deduction," he said.

Buckman said he was able to negotiate with Shadowood Plaza's previous owner for an extra 1,500 square feet for his church.

North Point plans

Sparger said this is the first step for North Point Church.

"Eventually, we'd like to buy land and build a building," he said. "Of course, you don't do that day one."

Helping to cut start-up costs is the free labor supplied by James River Assembly members, who also are offering supplies at rates near cost, Sparger added. For instance, Carpets Unlimited owner Brian Clay is offering the carpeting at a minimal profit.

Until membership builds and can back funding for a new church, the six-room former theater will be used as a multipurpose facility. One screen room, where 200 theater seats and a stage will be installed, will serve as the sanctuary. Goodrich Theaters gutted the space, including the seats, before vacating. Other rooms are being converted for kids: a nursery, preschool area and youth classrooms. Two other rooms will be used for small group and Sunday school meetings, Sparger said. The theater lobby will serve as a fellowship area.

"It allows you to be very creative," Sparger said of the cosmetic changes. "It's not a permanent location by any stretch of the imagination. But it really serves its purpose in the short term."

That purpose is reaching the northwest Springfield community. Sparger feels people may relate to the former theater space.

"I think you can reach people in the community that may not come to a traditional setting," he said. "We can say that we're in the old Town & Country Theater, and they'll know what we're talking about. That's an advantage."

Sparger expects about 300 James River Assembly members to attend North Point Church.

James River Assembly has spun off three other churches: Timbercreek Assembly of God in Springfield, Tri-Lakes Cathedral in Branson, and a church in Austin, Texas.