An artist’s rendering shows the property after a proposed renovation. (Courtesy: Heritage Fund, The Community Foundation of Bartholomew County)
A Columbus theatre that’s been without a primary tenant and closed to the public since 2014 could soon reopen as a hotel.
A study is set to begin this week to look at whether turning the Crump Theatre in downtown Columbus into a new hotel and conference center is feasible. Officials began exploring the study soon after the Clarion Hotel and Conference Center was demolished earlier this year.
Karen Niverson is the Executive Director of the Columbus Area Visitors Center. She hopes the property can fill a pair of previously identified needs.
“This idea of utilizing the Crump as a conference hotel—or as a component of a conference hotel—was just a matter of marrying two of the ideas that came together,” Niverson says.
Crump Theatre has been without a primary tenant since 1995. Fire officials deemed it unsafe in 2014, forcing it to close to the public.
