Pier One Theatre seeks one more Homer Spit lease, and port staff want it to be the last

Pier One Theatre, which has operated out of a former city warehouse on the Homer Spit for about 30 years, is asking for one more five-year lease. Homer's port staff say that if the City Council grants it, it should be the last.

The city's Port and Harbor Advisory Commission is scheduled to take up the theater's application Wednesday. Its recommendation goes to the council, which decides. The current lease, which charges the theater $1 a year, ends April 30, 2027.

The theater has already said this would be its last lease there. "Whether or not we have achieved our new building goals in the next five years, we will not seek another lease with the City for that building," its executive director wrote in a Sept. 8 email, according to city staff.

Pier One's five-year plan would use the warehouse for storage and rehearsal while the theater raises money, looks for interim space, runs a capital campaign and builds a new home. City staff found the plan does not yet appear to have financial backing. The theater, founded in Homer in 1973, has three year-round employees. Its community reach is estimated at 5,000 to 6,000 people a year, the staff review says.

Port staff want more room for boats. The site is zoned Marine Industrial, and the surrounding area is used for hauling out and repairing large vessels. The theater is allowed to stay because it was there before the current zoning code and has stayed without interruption, and the city Planning Department considers its use "legally nonconforming." Very few places in Southcentral Alaska can handle large vessel haul-outs, the harbor master wrote, and publicly owned marine industrial land "should be dedicated to maritime port-related operations."

Staff also want the requested safety fixes finished before the theater occupies the building under a new lease. A 2026 virtual inspection by the Alaska Public Risk Alliance, the city's risk management consultant, asked for changes including covering open breaker slots and a light switch panel, mounting fire extinguishers and, if one access route stays in use, updating its rope guardrail. It also asked how much weight the building's upper level can hold. The building has no water or sewer connection.

Staff asked commissioners to weigh city code that calls for leases of city property to maximize the value of city assets and put them to their highest and best use.