Live entertainment could become a major Main Street attraction under a plan the town council is considering to lease an old, dormant theater.

The town has been in talks with building owner Chip Smith.

Smith, general manager of Process Equipment and president of Move Fort Mill Forward, has agreed to lease the theater to Fort Mill for $1 a year for 20 years, with an option to extend the lease. The council passed the first reading of the lease document unanimously at a May 12 meeting. It must pass a second vote to become official.

"This is in keeping with what I've said all along," Mayor Danny Funderburk said. "To be successful in revitalizing downtown, we need a venue that brings people downtown."

Though leasing the space will cost the town next to nothing, Fort Mill will be responsible for covering renovation costs. To raise the capital, Funderburk said the town will pursue all avenues, including federal Community Development Block Grants, local hospitality tax money and private fundraising. No estimate for the cost of renovating the theater, which is near the bottom of Main Street, or a specific plan about how it would be used has been developed. If a second reading of the lease passes, Funderburk said, he wants to get engineers into the building within 90 days to determine the extent of work needed and provide a rough cost estimate.

The lease agreement gives Fort Mill a 12-to-24-month window to decide whether to move ahead with renovations; Otherwise control of the theater reverts to Smith. That way, if the town deems renovating the theater too expensive, Smith could find another tenant and the building won't have to sit vacant for another 20 years until the lease runs out.

"It's really just a shell right now," Smith said of the space.

A fire in the mid-1980s gutted the space and it has been empty since. Smith bought it in 2000.

"The last movie I saw therewas 'The Jungle Book,' the first time it came out," Smith, a Fort Mill native, recalled.

In addition to adding to Fort Mill's cultural clout, Funderburk is envisioning the theater spawning several ancillary businesses in the vicinity. With a reason for people to come downtown at night, restaurants would have a larger pool of customers.

"You've got the Fort Mill Community Playhouse here and a number of other groups that could fill out a year's worth of programming," Funderburk said.

Ideas for the space include everything from turning it into a live theater space to a flexible venue available for rent, to a concert hall or even a movie theater. Funderburk compares the public/private partnership with Smith to the same type of partnership the town entered into with downtown property owners to repave the parking lots on both sides of Main Street last year.

Funderburk and Smith point to the revitalization benefits downtown York has reaped since the Sylvia Theater opened there and to Charlotte's NODA arts area.

Arts Council of York County Executive Director Debra Heintz is excited about the project as well. The Arts Council, based out of Rock Hill, is trying to expand arts programs like summer art school for children throughout the county, and having another arts venue in the county can provide greater opportunities to children and adults throughout the area.

"It's great for adding cultural vitality to a downtown," Heintz said.

Last year, events and arts related programming funded through the Arts Council brought more than 50,000 tourists from 133 cities in 22 states and five countries to York County.

"Just from what we fund we have calculated an economic impact of $1.5 million a year," Heintz said.

"I see it as a true need," Jim Harper said. "The need for a true performing arts center that would encompass the talents of all ages, races, colors and creeds, and keep the tremendous amount of talent in the York County area local and contributing to the local economy, versus people having to leave the county and spend it elsewhere."

Harper has been involved with Move Fort Mill Forward and local high school students through a partnership between his family's company, Harper Corporation, and the school district's graphic communication programs.