The show will go on, at least temporarily.

Tri-Lakes Center for the Arts reopened on March 8 for two new exhibits: “Different Strokes,” featuring works by wildlife painter Ray Shaw and abstract and nature paintings by Joe Beavers, and works by the Palmer Lake Art Group.

The nonprofit arts center has been closed since Jan. 26 after the Palmer Lake Fire Department issued a cease and desist order due to code violations and unsafe conditions. The building also was missing a certificate of occupancy.

A temporary certificate of occupancy issued by the town of Palmer Lake allowed TLCA to open. It’s good for 60 days while staff works toward earning a final certificate of occupancy from the Pikes Peak Regional Building Department.

“It (the temporary certificate) can be extended if we’re making good progress toward obtaining a permanent certificate, which we’re doing,” said TLCA’s Executive Director Michael Maddox. “We’re taking those steps to rectify that.”

The temporary certificate comes with caveats, says Palmer Lake Mayor Glant Havenar. The two most significant conditions to be met are that Maddox and his wife may not live in the building because TLCA is only zoned for commercial use and not residential use, and that Maddox does what is necessary to work through PPRBD to get a permanent certificate.

“And should either of those items not be working toward being met then that temporary certificate can go away,” Havenar said.

Maddox said he and his wife don’t live in the TLCA, though they occasionally stay the night due to security reasons such as when people tried to break into the building, and after concerts or other events that ended late in the evening.

To obtain a permanent certificate of occupancy, TLCA is in the process of getting bids and estimates to create a remodeling plan, which will include the installation of fire walls and fire doors. The work is expected to cost thousands of dollars. Maddox doesn’t yet have a timeline for the project’s completion.

Once the work is completed, a new fire inspection will be required before a certificate can be issued by PPRBD. The temporary certificate can be extended if caveats are met.

“On day 61 it doesn’t mean it goes away,” Havenar said. “He (Maddox) has to show the fire chief he’s working on the goal. It could be extended if he’s performing to the temporary certificate of occupancy.”

The missing certificate was discovered after TLCA requested a conditional use permit a few months ago to rent the venue to The Movement Church on Sunday mornings. The church has since departed. The Palmer Lake planning commission approved conditional use, but there were caveats, one of which was a new fire inspection of the grounds, which the TLCA failed. The Palmer Lake Fire Department had been working with TLCA for over a year to bring the building up to code.

“This item (certificate of occupancy) was never obtained 25 years ago when the TLCA first started,” Maddox wrote in a press release. “1n 1999, the contractor, the original board of directors, and the architect failed to secure the crucial certificate of occupancy.”

Maddox is hoping to reschedule concerts and other events, though he doesn’t know if the temporary certificate will be extended. Over the last few years TLCA has brought in a number of national, regional and local acts, including John Schneider, Billy Bob Thornton and The Boxmasters, Pam Tillis, Branford Marsalis and Judy Collins.

“That’s the tricky part, especially when you book national acts,” Maddox said. “It’s very costly to reschedule.”