The Little Blue Church

The Pearl Theater - a landmark rich in history.

Bonners Ferry has acquired many landmarks over its 150-year history, but few have fulfilled as unusual a role as the little blue church on Ash Street.

Constructed in 1894 as Bonners Ferry’s first Catholic house of worship, the tall steepled church has gone through several transformations in its lifetime, each marking a new era of growth for Bonners Ferry. In 1913, the building was renovated for the then-hefty price of $5,000 so it could accommodate its expanding congregation. In the mid-1900s, it was retrofitted again to improve the acoustic qualities of its stage area and was outfitted with a new balcony for yet more seats. And of course, to keep up with modern conveniences, new, never-before installed bathrooms were added when its next tenants, the Community Fellowship Church, took over the facility in the 1980s. By the time the building had reached its centennial, the tall, narrow church on the hill had been elongated and broadened, repainted and retrofitted with loving care to meet numerous changing visions of its future. Finally, having again become too small for its membership, it was vacated and put up for sale.

In many towns, the vacancy might have spelled demise for the 19th century wooden building, paving way for commercial development. But of course, this was North Idaho, where a stately wooden structure still has value, and historic landmarks aren’t given up easily.

“It wasn’t that I wanted to buy a building,” confessed artist and former realtor Caroline Testa, who saw the sales listing for the church one day in 2010. She had just attended a sold-out performance of the Shook Twins a few months before. With no official theater at hand, the popular band had performed in a room atop the town’s fire station.

“(The volunteers) decorated the hall as nicely as they could, but it was still upstairs of the fire hall. The show was so impressive and so professional, I thought: How sad this is that they have to perform above a fire hall,” said Testa. The performance, like every other Shook Twins’ performance that would follow in Bonners Ferry, was packed.

But she said she was honest with the realtor, Jim Greenslitt, when she called him to ask about the little church. “I remember telling (him) that I didn’t want to waste his time with a special viewing.” She asked him to please call her when someone else wanted to see the building, so she could “tag along.” She was sure she wasn’t his buyer.

But fate sometimes has a funny way of changing futures. A little while later, she said, the price dropped. Then it dropped again. And before long, Testa had a new building for the community theater.

And a whole lot of work ahead of herself as well. It took months to prepare the structure for its next role. The balcony stairs were widened and seating was refurbished. The walls were repainted; the floors were replaced. The wiring had to be rerun. She and her partner Robert finished the major renovations just as the theater’s very first community performance, “No Tears for Love,” was about to open. A month later, the Shook Twins returned for their second Bonners Ferry performance.

Testa had met her goal: The Bonners Ferry celebrities would be playing in a real theater.

Since that time, the theater has lived up to its name, said Rhea Verbanic. The Pearl Theater has become Bonners Ferry’s “hidden gem.” Verbanic served as the president of the theater association until last year.

“There are many people in the community who come in and go, ‘Oh yeah, I went to church here as a kid’ or ‘so and so got married here,’” Verbanic said. “To have them come in and see it transformed is really quite special.”

The Shook Twins have performed at the theater for the last three Thanksgiving weekends, establishing a regular tradition of sold-out shows. People now travel in from Montana, British Columbia, Sandpoint and Coeur d’Alene to attend the yearly concert. The theater has also hosted a bevy of regional and international performers, like renowned guitarist Leon Atkinson, comedian Patrick F. McManus, musical duo Bridges Home, guitarist Chris Proctor and balladeer Sara Grey, as well as numerous community plays and performances.

Meanwhile, The Pearl keeps expanding. Last year the Inland Northwest Community Foundation awarded it the Florence Wasmer Grant to cover the cost of an administrative assistant. With a cadre of hard-working volunteers who run everything from the concession stand to the ticket sales, the theater is able to minimize its overhead. But the monthly performances still take a lot work, said Sue Wilson, who currently serves as the theater’s president. A professional photographer, she also steps in to take pictures when needed.

“We are working toward the goal of hiring an executive director, initially through capacity building grants, to oversee all operations of the theater,” said Wilson. “We hope to build a stable, successful performing arts center that will provide quality entertainment to our community for many years to come.”

Some 120 years after its construction, the building and many of the intrinsic improvements that were made through the generations are still being used. Bonners Ferry’s little blue church, while still an icon of the past, continues to play a role in the city’s unique future.

#entertainment #local #goodnews