A Tale of Two Historic Buildings in Elk Rapids

2025 was a rocky year for HERTH and the Elk Rapids Cinema. What comes next in 2026?

By Ross Boissoneau | Jan. 17, 2026

For one iconic building in Elk Rapids, a 2025 controversy has largely subsided. But for another it continues, as ownership transitions for both the town hall and the Elk Rapids Cinema resulted in fraught relations in the Antrim County village and township.

After a heated bidding war, the Historic Elk Rapids Town Hall—HERTH for short—is now owned by the Historic Elk Rapids Town Hall Association (HERTHA). (There is still a mortgage on the building, which led one member of the township board to predict that in a year it would be owned by the bank.)

Across town, the Elk Rapids Cinema is now in the hands of the Chalfonte Foundation. What is still to be determined is the tax-exempt status of the property, including the home behind the theater also owned by the foundation.

High-Bidding for HERTH

The history of Elk Rapids Town Hall dates to its construction in 1883. In the years since, it has not only housed government offices but has also been a roller rink, high school gym, museum, site for stage plays, and more. It has survived multiple suggestions of demolition, and in 1972 it was listed on Michigan Register of Historic Sites. Five years later, it was added to the National Register of Historic Sites.

HERTHA was formed in 2009 and had been leasing the space from the township since 2012. Last year, the Elk Rapids Township Board decided to sell the property, citing the costs of insurance and maintenance. Trustee Richard Hults said the hall needed over $250,000 in immediate repair costs.

The township listed the property for sale at $700,000, though it had been appraised at $525,000. Realtor Dan Stiebel presented four offers he had received for the property, though by the time the Board met in August to consider them, there were only two: HERTHA’s bid of $625,000 (increased from its original offer of $525,000, with an escalation clause up to $604,000) and that of Alivia and Sam Barnsley, who offered $700,000.

The Barnsleys' plan was to use the building as a residence as well as to host community events. However, using it as a residence would have required rezoning the property to allow residential use, which the village refused to do, prompting the township to consider pursuing litigation against the village.

The township board eventually voted 3-2 to sell to HERTHA for $625,000. Trustee Hults was one of two votes against the sale, and said at the time, “I would say we’ll be sitting here a year from today and Alden Bank [HERTHA’s mortgage lender] will own the building.”

Rob Ford says that statement hasn’t been forgotten. “I think [for] a lot of people in town that didn’t go unnoticed,” says Ford, who serves as HERTHA’s de facto historian.

Ford, who also co-founded the Elk Rapids Players, says the one constant in all the performances that have taken place at HERTH, including those by music groups, former local theater group Parallel 45, performers from Old Town Playhouse, and the Elk Rapids Players, has been the character of the hall itself.

“The building is the star of the show,” he says, citing its acoustics, sightlines, and grandeur.

Ford says the community largely rallied around HERTHA in its efforts to purchase the property, including appealing to the village’s planning commission and council to not approve rezoning the property. “The public outcry was ‘No,’ and the village denied it [the request].”

HERTH in 2026

William Cron, who serves as the events director, says the organization is now focused on the next chapter of the town hall’s life. The building is still rented for weddings, showers, parties, meetings, and other community gatherings. “We have several rentals booked for 2026 already,” says Cron.

The Elk Rapids Players Theater Company continues to use the hall as home base for its theater productions. The organization is planning two shows for this year, a summer youth theater camp, and the continuation of its monthly community trivia nights.

HERTHA is also continuing efforts to repair and maintain the 142-year-old building, including work on the roof, windows, brick exterior, and electrical system. Fortunately, the entire roof doesn’t need to be replaced.

“We need some shingles and gutters. We don’t need a whole roof,” says Karen Morris, the president of HERTHA. “We’re still working on the windows. They’re so expensive,” she says, as they want to maintain the building’s historic aspect, which can require custom work.

She says she and the board are gratified at the way the bulk of the community came together. So at least for now the drama at the town hall will be confined to the stage.

Theater & Taxes

Across the village, the constants of death and taxes have led the Elk Rapids theater’s owner, the nonprofit Chalfonte Foundation, to appeal the township’s recent decision to not grant its properties tax-exempt status.

The theater was opened in 1940, and in 1973 Joe Yuchasz purchased it. When he died in 2023, it was put up for sale, and it was purchased later that year by the Chalfonte Foundation.

Per reporting from our sister publication The Ticker last summer, “While it’s common practice in Michigan for nonprofit-owned theaters to have tax exemptions—local examples include the Traverse City State Theatre, the Bay Theatre in Suttons Bay, and the Garden Theater in Frankfort—Elk Rapids Township denied the Chalfonte Foundation’s application for an exemption in a February 13, 2024, email to the foundation.”

Aaron Timlin, the CEO and president of the Chalfonte Foundation, says the organization is currently in the appeals process with Elk Rapids Township.

“The case was dismissed on a procedural issue related to timing, and we are now working through the next steps,” he says. “We remain confident that the property qualifies for exemption based on its nonprofit, educational, and cultural use.”

The Ticker also reported that Elk Rapids Village Manager John Matthews was part of a competing effort to buy the Elk Rapids Cinema in 2023. The foundation claims Matthews was involved in a decision to deny tax exempt status to the theater, citing correspondence obtained through a FOIA request between Matthews and Township Assessor Karleen Sempert. Timlin calls that a clear conflict of interest. The two discussed the short-term rental of the Chalfonte House, with Matthews inferring that rentals of the home meant the foundation was operating as a for-profit.

“After discussion with the Village Administrator [Matthews] and others, it has been determined that the Cinema is not being used solely for charitable purposes,” wrote Sempert in the email. “Therefore, the exemption is not being granted.”

Fr. James Meyer, aka “Jimeyer,” started the Chalfonte Foundation in 2000 in Detroit, focusing on supporting the wellbeing of children and ending childhood poverty. The foundation supports organizations and programs like the Contemporary Art Institue of Detroit, Cass Café, and the coming-soon Detroit Broadcasting Company, among other efforts in Detroit. It also owns Camp Chalfonte at The Ryan Giannini Park near Torch Lake, Shepherdswork Farm & School in Clare County, and Chalfonte House in Elk Rapids.

Timlin, whose parents were longtime friends of the priest, is a graduate of the Kennedy Center’s arts management program and has held memberships and offices in several public and private organizations, including the Ferndale Arts & Culture Commission and the Forum for Contemporary Art at the Detroit Institute of Arts. After Meyer died, Timlin moved his family from Detroit to Elk Rapids. He lives in one of the three living spaces in the Chalfonte House in lieu of taking a salary from the foundation.

Elk Rapids Cinema (and More) in 2026

“We’re going to keep doing what we’re doing,” says Timlin as he looks forward to the New Year. “It’s just a little more challenging with $12,000-$14,000 in property taxes. Uncapping the taxes threw us for a loop. It’s not just current but retroactive to Jimeyer’s death” in February 2021.

While working through the tax dispute, Timlin anticipates an exciting year ahead across three vectors. “Chalfonte owns and operates the cinema, Village Radio, and The Platform,” he explains.

Village Radio is a nonprofit radio station that broadcasts on 99.7 FM and streams worldwide, serving as a hotspot for arts, culture, education, and storytelling. Timlin says its streaming capability will expand its reach well beyond northern Michigan.

The Platform performance venue has featured shows by the likes of French-Algerian jazz guitarist Pierre Bensusan and is set to host Scotland’s Tannahill Weavers March 26.

“We’re also in the process of finalizing dates for our 2026 concert series on The Platform and beginning development of a live radio variety show; something inspired by the spirit of programs like ‘The Jack Benny Show’ and ‘A Prairie Home Companion’, blending music, storytelling, and community voices,” Timlin says.

The cinema is continuing to showcase both first-run and classic movies as well as special films, such as the documentary All Too Clear: Beneath the Surface of the Great Lakes, which showed Jan. 14 showing, followed by a discussion regarding Great Lakes ecology and the issues explored in the film.

The theater has also received a grant from the Elk Rapids Downtown Development Authority (DDA) for $17,896.20 to support the restoration of the theater’s marquee and other exterior lighting enhancements. The grant will help fund a comprehensive restoration of the 1940 art deco marquee, including the return of neon lighting, upgraded illumination for the glass block tower, and a new digital display mimicking traditional 1940s letterboard styling.

The façade improvement project is budgeted at approximately $55,000. In addition to the DDA award, the Chalfonte Foundation has secured a $10,000 matching contribution from the Jimeyer Trust and is launching a $27,000 community capital campaign to complete the project.