STORY AND PHOTO BY KAREN BOSSICK

A Ketchum broker wants to breathe life back into The Liberty Theatre.

All he needs is a sound and lighting system.

Logan Frederickson, who own Windermere Real Estate in Ketchum and Hailey, purchased the Hailey theatre in May from the Sun Valley Museum of Arts. And he wants to see it used again for theater, musical performances, films and community events.

“It’s something that’s really cool and it should be bought back as theater and a place for the performing arts,” he said.

Problem is the theater has no sound production and lighting.

Local sound and lighting companies are equipped to handle home theater but not something on the scale of The Liberty Theater, Frederickson said. So, he’s been forced to look for help from companies in Salt Lake City.

“Originally, I was thinking I might be able to reopen it this fall, but summer has nearly come and gone and I still don’t have a lot of numbers to work with to see what it might cost to install sound and lighting,” he said.

The Liberty Theatre has always been part of the Wood River Valley landscape for Frederickson.

He grew up in Coeur d’Alene but often visited the Sun Valley area. His mother and grandparents were from Burley, and his grandfather was a ski instructor for Sun Valley Resort. In fact, his grandfather built a cabin in Warm Springs in 1947 that Logan lives in today.

“I can’t imagine a better place to live,” said Frederickson, who joined Windermere Sun Valley 10 years ago.

That said, Frederickson had only been in The Liberty Theatre once before he purchased it, and that was to see the Homegrown Film Festival.

“I loved it instantly—I thought it was amazing,” he said. “I love its style—it’s so picturesque and cool. And, with 212 seats, it’s not super small. Plus, the mezzanine has some really big seats—almost like love seats.”

The deco-style theatre opened in 1938, providing Wood River Valley residents their first opportunity to see “Gone with the Wind” when it came out several months later.

Actors Bruce Willis and Demi Moore were captivated by the homey small-town theatre enough to buy it in 1994. And, in 1996 it made the transition to a playhouse as Company of Fools brought to life such plays as “Peter and the Starcatcher” and “Always, Patsy.”

Willis and Moore gifted the theater to the Sun Valley Museum of Art in 2016 after the arts center and Company of Fools merged. But the theater went dark during COVID and Company of Fools disbanded.

A new theater company--The Liberty Theatre Company—rose in its place but fell just short in its bid to raise $1.7 million to fix structural problems and provide an endowment fund for the theater’s upkeep.

Frederickson said it’s his understanding that he can reopen the theater without those improvements, provided he keeps it within its zoning classification as a theater.

“Of course, I would like to bring it up to code,” he said. “I have a lot of learning ahead of me right. But I’m extremely excited, I want to do it right and I’m grateful for the many people who have reached out to offer assistance.”