The future of the beloved, historic and sometimes financially strapped Belcourt Theatre appears to have been given a dramatic boost, as Belcourt YES!, Inc., board member Thomas Wills has bought the property for about $1.4 million.

Wills’ purchase gives the venerable art house an owner who has a vested interest in its viability. It will also give Belcourt YES! a better chance to raise funds to renovate and, eventually, buy the theater from Wills, board members said.

“I had been considering [an attempt to buy the property] for a couple of months,” Wills said, adding that the Belcourt YES! rent was set to increase in March 2004 giving him a stronger incentive to buy the theatre.

Wills said he has been asked to remain on the 26-member Belcourt YES! Board and will do so. However, he will recuse himself from discussing and voting on landlord-tenant matters.

“The board feels they have nothing to hide from me,” he said. “I am aware that I have to watch for conflict of interest [concerns].

Wills, a supporter and founding board member of the non-profit Belcourt YES!, bought the property Wednesday from The Belcourt LLC, whose 10 members were led by Charles Hawkins. Prior to Belcourt LLC’s ownership, the Massey family owned the diminutive art house.

Hawkins, owner of the Nashville commercial real estate operation Chas. Hawkins Co., declined to comment, saying he preferred to defer to Wills out of respect for Belcourt YES!

Wills and Belcourt YES! board member Jayne Gordon credited Hawkins for working closely with the group.

“Charles has been a good landlord,” Gordon said. “Without Belcourt LLC’s generosity and patience, we wouldn’t be here.”

Gordon said Belcourt YES! will soon undertake an aggressive capital campaign to upgrade the facility, which, in addition to showing films (many of them of the art and independent nature), also features live music and performance art. She declined to say what the fund-raising goal is.

Steve Small, who was named Belcourt Theatre managing director this past June, said the transaction is very significant.

“Tom has a long-term vision of what his investment can be,” Small said. “In the medium to long term, Belcourt YES! will actually hold the title to the property.”

The Belcourt Theatre and the land on which it sits was last appraised by the city in 2001 for about $900,000.

Opened as The Hillsboro Theatre in 1925, the Belcourt Theatre once served as home of Children’s Theatre of Nashville, the Grand Ole Opry and the Nashville Community Playhouse. In 1966, it was renamed the Belcourt Cinema and operated successfully as a movie house for nearly 30 years.

Competition from the multi-screened cineplexes led to the Belcourt’s decline, however.

In 1997, what is now called Watkins College of Art and Design and Belcourt LLC teamed to offer alternative films to compete with the multi-screen suburban theaters. Receiving only modest support, the theater closed in 1998.

In January 1999, a grassroots effort called Save the Belcourt began. Belcourt YES! grew from the Save the Belcourt campaign and in June 2000 reopened the facility under the name Belcourt Theatre.