Longmire Sells Lyric Theater, Buys Bohlmann Construction Property

James Longmire sold the Lyric Theater along with the rest of the Foster Building in downtown Flatonia last Friday, July 31. The new owners are Freyburg-based artist Terry Ehler and her husband and muralist John Knotts. The couple plans to keep the theater operating.

“I’ve got a new sandbox to play in,” Ehler told the Record on Wednesday.

Ehler said she plans to begin showing movies whenever COVID-19 conditions allow. In the meantime, she and Knotts are fixing up the space next door to serve as a children’s art gallery. The space previously housed Longmire’s woodworking shop.

“Children can display their work and sell it, and I can put on artist receptions for them,” she said. “It’s all about building their confidence.”

Ehler leads the art afterschool program at On Pointe Studio in Schulenburg. That program also includes a theater arts component. Ehler said she plans to host theater productions starring the On Pointe Players in the Lyric. She hopes to host musical performances and other events in the theater as well.

Knotts will use the loft space above the Lyric as a studio for his mural work. The building also includes several apartments, which Ehler said she will continue to lease.

“One of the apartments is open right now, if anyone needs a place to live,” she said.

The theater sits inside the Foster Building, constructed in 1879. Live productions and silent movies occasionally took place inside the building in its early years. By 1931, it was known as the Lyric Theater and hosted regular productions. It closed in 1967 after a final showing of “Beach Blanket Bingo” staring Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello

Longmire bought the Foster Building in 2007 and spent a decade restoring the property. He reopened the theater in 2017.

“I couldn’t ask for better people to buy the Lyric Theater,” Longmire told the Record on Monday. “It’s going to keep moving forward.”

During Longmire’s ownership, he sold brass plaques to community members who supported the theater and affixed them to the back of seats. Ehler said she and Knotts will not remove the plaques. The same day he sold the

The same day he sold the Lyric, Longmire closed on the purchase of the Bohlmann Construction property in Schulenburg.

The property, located at 111 Simpson Street in Schulenburg, was the home of Bohlmann, Inc. Several generations of men named Bohlmann built a great many of the buildings in Schulenburg and the surrounding area. Longmire’s new property includes the Bohlmanns’ workshops, woodworking tools and even a sawmill. A carpenter by trade, Longmire said he plans to turn the property into a “makers compound” where different artisans and craftspeople can practice their trades and teach to the public. “There will be a pottery stu

“There will be a pottery studio, woodworking, cabinet making, picture framing,” Longmire said. “Each building is going to have a different trade in it.”

Longmire said he will continue to live in Flatonia, where he is a member of the local fire department. Longmire said it may be a few weeks before he “starts making sawdust” at his new place, though.

“Terry and John gave me 30 days to get out of my old place,” Longmire said. “I’ve got 13 years of stuff piled up that I have to go through and move over.”