Though closing credits may have rolled decades ago on the last scary movie to play at the Capitol Theatre, it doesn't mean the building can't put on one final horror show for Hartley taxpayers.

On the advice of legal counsel, the city council on Monday voted to acquire the property from Dwight and Darla Jacobs, of Spirit Lake. The city will obtain the property located at 185 S Central Ave. via quitclaim deed in the near future, and the Jacobs will also have to fork over a $2,500 payment under the agreement.

The arrangement ends months of legal wrangling, which began last year after the council declared the dilapidated former theater a dangerous building on the advice of county-level health officials.

"It's not an ideal situation," City Administrator Erica Haack said of the eyesore. "It should have been taken care of a long time ago."

According to a 2019 report from O'Brien County Environmental Health Specialist Jonathon Hintz, 60 percent of the building's main floor is buckled 3-5 inches high due to moisture infiltration caused by bad roof. The Jacobs said at a previous meeting they did not have adequate funds to demolish the building or make necessary repairs, and instead offered it to the city.

The city council was hesitant. With no options for restoration, it will have to be razed. Haack said a previous estimate pegged demolition expenses at around $130,000.

The $2,500 payment from the Jacobs will offset only a small sliver of future removal expenses.

"There were no fines issued to them, per se," Haack said. "The $2,500 payment is a small part of a reimbursement of the demolition since the city will be accruing all the demolition costs."

Hartley officials plan to apply for a grant through the Iowa DNR's Derelict Building Program to help reduce the burden to local taxpayers. Money is available for Iowa towns of 5,000 or fewer residents to address neglected commercial or public structures that have sat vacant for at least six months. Funding from the program assists with conducting asbestos inspections, asbestos abatement, structural engineering analysis, site assessments, building deconstruction and building renovation expenses.

Haack said the city could qualify for up to $60,000 through the program.

"Our goal and hope is to obtain that derelict building grant," she explained. "The city will receive title to [the property], and then the plan is to set the building for demolition since it's beyond repair or future use."

The Jacobs have owned the old theater since 1991. The couple said at previous council meetings they attempted to keep up with maintenance by patching the roof and completing other repairs, but it has sat empty for years. They partially blamed its vacancy on the city's downtown parking ordinance for making it "unrentable." The Jacobs also said they've looked into grants for its demolition, but the building needs to be owned by the city to qualify for state funds.

A bid for demolition has not been approved by the city council yet. Once bricks do start hitting the ground, Haack said the procedure would be a precarious one since the old theater shares a wall with the building next to it.

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Last year, a window fell out of the old theater building and forced the temporary closure of the sidewalk below it.

"It will be careful process," she said. "It's my understanding they will have to do some removal by hand along the north wall.

The theater building's demolition will be the second removal of a downtown structure conducted by the city. Last year, the former dry cleaner and barbershop located at 37 1st St. SE was torn down at a cost of $63,200, which was significantly more than original estimates had projected.