After 14 years of concerts, exhibits, speakers and more, Tri-Lakes Center for the Arts is temporarily closed.

The building is missing a certificate of occupancy and also failed a fire inspection. Palmer Lake Fire Department issued a cease and desist order Jan. 26 due to code violations and unsafe conditions.

Everything is on hold for now, including ticket refunds for previously scheduled events, said Tri-Lakes Center Executive Director Michael Maddox, who took over the nonprofit 14 years ago and has brought in local, regional and nationally known performers, including John Schneider, Billy Bob Thornton and The Boxmasters, Pam Tillis, Branford Marsalis, Judy Collins and others.

Palmer Lake Fire Department has worked with the arts center to bring the building up to code for over a year, says Palmer Lake Mayor Glant Havenar. During that time, arts center staff asked the town for a conditional use permit to rent the venue to The Movement Church on Sunday mornings. A new permit requires a new inspection, which the center failed.

“When it went before the planning commission, it approved conditional use,” Havenar said. “But there were caveats to conditional use, and one was an inspection of the grounds.”

It was also discovered there is no current certificate of occupancy for the building. The historic building has served many purposes, including an Angora rabbit wool processing plant, a bus stop and the home of the Colorado Worm Growers Association.

In 1969, the building was used by its owner to restore Kaiser and Frazer cars, and in 1998 local artists created an arts center in the building. In 1999, the organization was granted nonprofit status and sought to nurture artists and promote the fine arts and humanities in the Tri-Lakes area.

The original certificate for the building claimed it was a garage, Havenar says, but the building has been adjusted and remodeled since then. It’s unknown whether the certificate was negated, or didn’t get renewed, or if it was missed.

Before 1999, the town gave its own certificates of occupancy, Havenar says. Pikes Peak Regional Building Department took over the task when it gained jurisdiction over El Paso County.

A certificate of occupancy establishes building accessibility and how many people can sit and stand inside. As of now, those numbers can’t be ascertained because there is no certificate. And to get a fire code reinspection a business must have a certificate from the Pikes Peak Regional Building Department (PPRBD).

“They (Tri-Lakes Center) are a place of assembly,” Havenar said. “If you have 100 people at a show maybe you don’t need sprinklers because PPRBD might say under 200 you don’t need X. But over 100 people you need Y. Maybe when you have a concert you have 100 people. Maybe church is 75 people. Those different parameters come with different expectations from PPRBD.”

Maddox disputes the reasons behind the closure. He believes a group of locals didn’t approve when the arts center began renting its facilities to Movement Church about six weeks ago, and the town is trying to appease the naysayers. He disagrees with the code violations, including that the stage is illegal and the center’s capacity warrants a sprinkler system.

“The crux of the whole matter is religious discrimination,” Maddox said. “We’ve been doing this for 14 years and there was no problem.”

Havenar disagrees.

“I love the arts and the things he brings to town, but they need a certificate of occupancy,” she said. “They were closed due to unsafe conditions and fire code. This isn’t about religious persecution. This is about building code. What they need to do is work with PPRBD to satisfy whatever they need to accomplish. Once a certificate is issued the town fire chief can work with him.”

Maddox says they’re working with PPBRD but don’t have a timeframe for potentially reopening.

“We’d love to keep the center open,” he said. “All the press generated from the celebrities coming here benefits the community.”