Popular downtown Colorado Springs movie theater still vacant, but that could change in a few months
A year after Kimball Bayles’ death, his Kimball’s Peak Three Theater remains vacant.
Property owners Murphy Constructors has received multiple proposals over the last dozen months from different parties interested in leasing the 9,500 square feet of space at 115 E. Pikes Peak Ave., but none have come to fruition. There’s no debt on the building and very minimal upkeep costs, so no rush to fill the downtown Colorado Springs space.
‘We’re picky about tenants,” said property manager Ryan Murphy. “We want to try to keep it something theater or theater-related, though not necessarily a movie theater.”
All the proposals have been local, though there has been some interest from outside entities, such as bigger movie theater groups.
“There have been a lot of people who say they want to make it a concert venue, a skating rink, everyone has a pipe dream, but only a couple have been close to being economically viable for us and the tenant,” said Murphy, of the longtime Colorado Springs contractor.
There are three or four proposals in flux right now, including one that’s still in negotiations between real estate brokers, but getting closer. Most parties want to be open by May or June, which means they would need to sign a lease by March.
Once a lease is signed, depending on the tenant, interior renovations are the next step, including changing the lights and paint, updating seating and possibly the bathrooms and HVAC and electrical upgrades.
“We want to keep the marquee,” Murphy said. “The building is over 100 years old. It’s been pretty much untouched since Kimball passed.”
Bayles spent $1.5 million to renovate and open Kimball’s Twin Peak Theaters in 1994. For many years, his theater was the only place to watch a movie downtown and to see independent and more obscure films, such as “Pulp Fiction,” “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” and “March of the Penguins.”
Around 2009 he installed a third movie screen and changed the name to Peak Three Theater.
A person walks past the vacant Kimball’s Peak Three in downtown Colorado Springs on Friday, a year after owner Kimball Bayles died. While property owners Murphy Constructors have received multiple proposals over the last dozen months from those interested in leasing the space, none has come to fruition.
Kimball’s Peak Three in 2018.Property owners Murphy Constructors want to keep the building as a theater or theater-related, though not necessarily a movie theater.
