02/12/2024
Dear Friends,
The time has come for me to make a public statement about what happened with our plans to buy the Galaxie Theater. As you may know from various news sources, our plans to open and purchase the space known as the Gobbler Theater were thwarted in August less than a week before our expected purchase of the property was to close and less than 2 weeks before we launched a series of kick off concerts in September.
The weekend prior, Steve & I found ourselves in a hospital room awaiting surgery with no answers in sight about what the future would look like after surgery. The day before our contract deadline to purchase the doctors and physical therapist finally started a dialogue with us about his prognosis. They couldn't say how long the recovery would take. They did inform us that Steve would need to go to a recovery hospital to learn how to use his legs while they were locked in a fully extended position for the next 6 weeks. They said the recovery team would be able to guide us further but 6 - 8 months of recovery should be expected.
Despite this grim news, I whole heartedly attempted to negotiate a modified path for our plans to purchase, open, and operate the Galaxie Theater. There were big questions about how I would take on the role of operations for both of us while also tending to everyday needs during those first two months. It was hard to imagine how this would be possible, but we were willing to find a reasonable solution.
I quickly found myself in a very difficult situation without any viable options to move forward. The sellers team decided not to extend the offer to purchase and closing date of our contract for 30 days, which we requested. They instead offered us a 30-day triple net lease. They told us the new lease would be at a significantly higher base cost than we were paying for the previous few months while we worked diligently to get the property ready for operations. This would no doubt be challenging but not impossible. What really changed the deal was that we would need to renegotiate the purchase offer as the contract we had in place had expired and so too had our existing lease. It was obvious they wanted us to pay more for the property. We would lose all our earnest money paid to date. We had no clear and secure pathway to purchase the property, or any way of knowing what those terms might be and what would change. Without a lease that was long enough to sort out the complex situation we were in - there was no reasonable offer on the table to move forward. We were forced to walk away from all that we had invested.
It was devastating to us. Still one of the toughest losses I have faced in business.
Looking back, I do wish we had headed the warnings and red flags along the way. There was friction with some of the Village Board from the moment we stepped foot into the first meeting to discuss using the venue for the same purpose it had been used for previously. We were accused of attempting to run a gentlemen's club, an entirely baseless accusation that should have chased us away from the start. Maybe it was meant to. We dismissed it and worked towards sharing our vision for an expanded community arts center and live music performance space. Our plan was simply but the village wanted to make it difficult for us if not deny us entirely the ability to operate. We spent far too much time and money on attorneys working through what should have been a very simple conversation. We then faced threats by other officials working for the village to "shut us down" over not fencing in our trash bins prior to the soft opening in July. I won't elaborate on the details of this matter here. Our team went above and beyond to communicate with members of the village and comply with all requirements. We were earnest. We were committed. Most of the people we were working with were a delight, but it usually comes down to one or two people who spoil it for everyone.
I am truly disappointed in what happened in Johnson Creek. We were passionate about the vision for the future of the Gobbler / Galaxie Theater and fully committed to bringing that vision to life and making Johnson Creek a renewed crossroads of community and live music in south-central Wisconsin.
I truly appreciated meeting wonderful people in the community and the support that was extended to us during our efforts to bring the theater back to life. There are several individuals who reached out, showed up, and supported us in any way possible as we made significant progress and investments in the community and the property. We had no intention of walking away from those investments and were counting on them to be beneficial to all.
After learning about Steve's accident one person from the village reached out and asked what they could do to help. It was far too early for us to have any idea what we might yet need or how to proceed. It is notable however that no one from the village reached out to us prior to serving me with a summons to revoke the liquor license 3 months later. It is also notable that we had a reserve liquor license which comes with a very heavy price tag. Upon being served the summons I immediately reached out to the village to make arrangements to voluntarily surrender the license. All they had to do was reach out and ask us if we planned to move forward or not but no one did.
I strongly considered taking another look at the purchase for months. Our investors patiently waited for us to move forward. Steve made significant leaps and bonds of progress towards healing and recovery. We found the mental space during that time of healing to reflect on what happened in Johnson Creek. We further reflected on the struggle it had cost us personally.
In the end, it was all too painfully clear that we couldn't trust the village of Johnson Creek to welcome our business. We felt that our investment would always be at risk. We were unwilling to put anyone in that position with us. I began the process of unraveling all that we had put our time, energy, resources, and passion into. It was difficult, but at a least the costs were known now, and further losses avoided. Or so we thought, until the village sent over an erroneous bill in late January for fees they claimed were unbilled from the conditional use process in April - May of 2023. It was a final reminder about the truth of things. It takes one or two people to spoil it for many. It takes many to change a village. I hope that the people of Johnson Creek take comfort in knowing that most people in their community are truly wonderful and supporting. The few that don't want to see progress of any kind and are holding back an entire community probably should be looked at more closely. Democracy is dependent on our willingness to stand up against tyranny where we see it, not to ignore it or the facts. People should be able to trust their community to make good decisions. If they can't, they should get involved in changing it for the better.
In closing, I feel blessed that a freak accident ultimately prevented me from making what could have been the greatest mistake of my life. I am grateful for the lessons I have learned, wisdom I have gained. Most of all I am thankful that I have found a way to turn this struggle into finding my own voice. A voice I am committed to using to uncover the truth about things hidden from the public. We cannot afford to be silent out of fear of retribution. This was a very expensive lesson in growth, but I intend to use it wisely.
Most importantly, our vision and passion will live on in another place. Our team is still committed to bringing that vision to life and as it unfolds, we will keep you posted about where it will be.
Thank you for being part of our journey.
Sincerely,
Rachel Bauer (and Steve Paulet)
