The Ice House Theater is the home for the Visalia Players. Image via Visalia Players website

The Visalia City Council voted to award a local theater troupe and social services nonprofit a forgivable loan that would grant the close-knit duo the deed to the property they’ve called home for nearly 50 years.

The Creative Center and Visalia Players received a $1.2 million loan for a three-acre, seven-building property that includes the Ice House Theater. The building was appraised at $1.4 million. The City of Visalia received Community Development Block Grant Funding to cover the gap, which would be about $178,000 the two organization must repay.

The City purchased the property in the 1960s that was once an ice plant and metal finishing facility. The idea was to turn the property into a corporation yard for city vehicles and equipment. Instead, in 1976 Visalia leased the ice plant to the troupe and began work to transform the building into a theater where they hosted stage plays. A year later, the Creative Center came in and leased the remainder of the property, dedicating it to art programs for people with developmental disabilities.

Since then, the City has leased the properties to each of the organizations for $1 per year.

Visalia City Manager Leslie Caviglia felt the improvements that raised the value of the property had come from the work done by the two organizations.

Caviglia said it’s increasingly difficult for the City to maintain the property. Any work the City would do would require paying prevailing wage, increasing the cost for capital improvements. And the work done by the two organizations has been of a benefit to the community, Caviglia said.

Visalia Players productions at the Ice House Theater — upcoming shows this season include A Christmas Carol and Sweeney Todd — are staged on at least half the weekends of the year, Caviglia said. The Creative Center now serves between 90 to 100 adults each day throughout the year, according to the organization’s website.

Multiple calls to both organizations went unanswered.