The Tri-Lakes Center for the Arts building in Palmer Lake is for sale.
The almost 9,500-square foot property, which was closed by the Palmer Lake Fire Department early this year and had since reopened, is listed at $1,450,000.
“We’ve had some showings,” said TLCA Executive Director Michael Maddox. “We’ve had invites to relocate the nonprofit to another city where they will support us. We’re not dissolving the nonprofit. The vision is still the same — to enrich families with the fine arts. We love artists. We know how arts can impact and elevate society.”
Maddox won’t say where he might relocate the nonprofit. The property listing notes the “sellers are motivated to move quickly and are willing to get creative on financing.”
The nonprofit was closed Jan. 26 after the Fire Department issued a cease and desist order due to code violations and unsafe conditions. The building also was missing a certificate of occupancy.
A temporary 60-day certificate of occupancy issued by the town of Palmer Lake allowed TLCA to reopen March 8. It was renewed this month for six months, Maddox says, while staff works toward earning a final certificate of occupancy from the Pikes Peak Regional Building Department.
But that might be “too little, too late,” Maddox said. As of now, there are no events scheduled at TLCA.
Palmer Lake Mayor Glant Havenar is aware of the potential sale of the building, which is owned by the TLCA, not the town.
“I can’t do anything about it. In a perfect world I would like for the town to be able to have some input on who buys it,” Havenar said. “If it’s going to be sold off, I would like a place that brings in revenue to town and adds value to the town. It would be a phenomenal event center, community center or fire station.”
Monument resident Maggie Williams has been a TLCA board member for at least a decade.
“It’s too bad Palmer Lake has not given them their continued occupancy,” said Williams, who owns Bella Art & Frame in Monument. “They’re (TLCA) doing what they have to do because they have no choice. It’s a terrible thing to lose. Palmer Lake doesn’t seem to appreciate what they have, not only in the Maddoxes but the venue.”
Some Palmer Lake residents, however, are concerned about the sale. Roger Moseley, who’s lived in the area for 30 years, describes the situation as secretive. TLCA members weren’t notified about the sale, he says. A previous red flag went up for him in 2022 when the nonprofit made a change in its articles of incorporation.
The Colorado secretary of state’s nonprofit tracker shows that upon dissolution of the TLCA, its assets were originally set to go to the Palmer Lake Historical Society. In 2022, the TLCA board of directors, which includes Maddox, his wife and their son, amended its bylaws to distribute the nonprofit’s assets upon dissolution to other nonprofits as determined by the board.
“Family members are self-interested and a huge conflict of interest,” Moseley said. “They’ve made this organization and assets theirs. They’ve converted it to almost personal property. If the sale is consummated, we don’t know where the money is going to go.”
The change was made to ensure the dissolution provisions of the articles of incorporation matched the dissolution language already included in the TLCA’s bylaws, wrote TLCA’s attorney Michael J. Cook, of Cook Rector Pearce, in an email.
“The change does not necessarily preclude the Palmer Lake Historical Society from receiving some distribution upon the eventual liquidation of the TLCA, but it also gives the TLCA board the ability to spread the distributions among additional exempt organizations it sees as deserving and able to carry on its legacy and mission,” wrote Cook.
Maddox has no plans to dissolve TLCA, he says, but it is legal if the property sells to relocate and find another property and municipality for TLCA.
“We can relocate without dissolving and acquire a commercial property and continue the work of the TLCA,” he said.
Some residents also believe Maddox and his wife have their own nonprofit that might benefit from the arts center’s dissolution, Moseley says. The state’s nonprofit tracker shows Maddox did have one called Project Peace on Earth that was founded in Texas and registered in Manitou Springs after he moved to Colorado, but it is now defunct, wrote Cook.
Walt Moore, a potter who rented workspace at TLCA almost a decade ago, also isn’t happy with the impending sale.
“Hopefully an injunction will be issued to stop the sale,” Moore said. “There’s a group of people trying to save the facility for its original purpose. We think he’s trying to take off with whatever he can get from the facility.”
Palmer Lake resident Kimberly Ward bought the TLCA building and donated it to Palmer Lake Arts Council in 1998 to be used as a community arts center. TLCA became a nonprofit in 1999. Ward supported Maddox in becoming the director and he took over the nonprofit around 2010. Ward died last year.
Maddox hasn’t consulted with the town about potential buyers and isn’t required to, says Havenar.
“I’d like him to think of what would bless the town,” she said. “It’s a prominent part of town. We’re building up walkability. It’s prominent on Highway 105. I don’t know who they’ve shown it to or where they are in the sale process. I would love for him to honor the wishes of the gift he got and the opportunity to leave a blessing for the next generation.”
Even though the building is for sale, Maddox says he is continuing to pursue a permanent certificate of occupancy. He must hire someone to create a remodeling plan, which includes the installation of fire walls and fire doors. The work is expected to cost thousands. Once the work is completed, a new fire inspection will be required before a certificate can be issued by the Pikes Peak Regional Building Department.
