Page 6 - Tyler Mackey News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

FRESNO —  At first, few in the neighborhood paid attention to the churchgoers filing into the Tower Theatre on Sunday mornings. It was pre-pandemic and just another audience at the historic Art Deco theater with its neon orb atop an 80-foot tower. But as Roger Rocka’s Dinner Theater across the street went dark, the gay bar silent and the Tower District’s lively sidewalks emptied, the devout continued to meet for months, drawing local ire. In January it became public that Adventure Church was buying the theater, the neighborhood’s namesake and economic anchor. “That’s when thing...

Listen to the story here. Along Fern Avenue in the Tower District, businesses are boarded up, some lined with graffiti. There’s trash piled in the doorways. But on this sunny Saturday afternoon, volunteers move brooms along the sidewalk and sweep the debris into boxes. There’s an upbeat feeling about their work.      Tyler Mackey, executive director of the Tower District Marketing Committee sweeps a sidewalk on Fern Avenue on a volunteer clean up day. One of the cleaning crew is Kacey Auston. She grew up in the Tower and is now leasing the former Bank of America building on this stree...

Listen to the story here. The sale of Fresno’s historic Tower Theatre is raising concerns among businesses and residents. The buyer, Adventure Church, currently holds Sunday services at the theatre. But according to Fresno City Councilmember Esmeralda Soria, that’s a violation of current zoning laws.  “We researched our land use and code on what is authorized and we have gotten a determination that actually the current use of religious assembly is not allowed,” says Soria.    The property is currently zoned for commercial main street uses, which does not allow religious assembly on...