The Head Theater in downtown Steamboat Springs was sold in late September, but the new owners have yet to announce plans for the theater, which was touted as the largest in Northwest Colorado at the time of its construction.

811 Lincoln Ave., according to the Routt County Assessors website. The property, listed at , was sold to TCS Holdings LLC on September 24 for $2.1 million. The deal was recorded on September 30.

The building dates back to 1926, when it was built by Mark Schafermeyer, who owned the property and deeded it to local visionary “Chief” Harry Gordon for $25,000. Gordon, a descendant of the Miami Tribe, opened a movie house in the building in 1927.

It was the second movie theater in Steamboat Springs and the first to feature “talkies.” The venue was home to a movie theater until 2010, when it closed its doors.

The theater was purchased by Friends of the Chef in 2012 for $1.45 million with the help of private investors. In the summer of 2013, the Chief Theater opened as a cultural and performing arts center.

During the first year, the board’s efforts to realize its mission of creating a vibrant and dynamic space were gradual. Then in December, the Chief’s Friends Foundation sold the building to longtime supporters Mary and Jack McClurg for $1.45 million. The sale allowed the nonprofit Friends of the Chef to lease the space and remain in operation without worrying about paying the mortgage.

Business came to a halt at the performing arts theater when COVID struck in March 2020, and the theater was closed by the building’s owners in 2021 after the nonprofit could no longer afford rent payments. The McClurgs planned to renovate the space and reopen it as a for-profit performing arts venue, but the theater never reopened.

In December 2023, the nonprofit group Undiscovered Earth began exploring the possibility of purchasing the Chief Theater building in hopes of reopening the theater as a performing arts center. The group managed to raise more than $1 million in donations and grants before these efforts ended below target in March 2024.

Dagny McKinley, general manager Undiscovered World, The property was expected to close soon after the nonprofit failed to raise $2.5 million to purchase the historic downtown venue. This closing took place in September.

Nothing has happened to the property since then, and a local real estate agent said the new owners were still exploring plans and were not ready to talk when reached by Steamboat Pilot & Today Thursday morning.