Moravian College is interested in using downtown Bethlehem's closed Boyd Theatre for its theater department productions.

Notices were recently posted on the Boyd Theatre facade that it is scheduled for a December sheriff's sale in Northampton County Court for unpaid property taxes estimated at $31,000.

The Boyd, 30 W. Broad St., between Main and New streets, closed in May 2011.

When contacted by The Lehigh Valley Press, Moravian College president Bryon L. Grigsby stated in an email:

"Moravian College is interested in the Boyd Theater in order to preserve its rich heritage and restore its status as one of the iconic cultural venues in the city.

"The college seeks to work the owner, the City of Bethlehem, and a local developer to ensure that the Boyd Theater remain an integral part of the fabric of downtown Bethlehem."

The Boyd is not in Bethlehem's recently-designated City Revitalization and Improvement Zone (CRIZ) where portions of taxes are made available to developers for real estate projects.

Stated Joyce Heydt, who owns the Boyd, on the Boyd's web page:

"In recent years and in the period since the theater closed, [we've] been approached by several community members and business people about adapting the theater to a performing arts venue or other use.

"We will certainly entertain any of those options, while keeping focused on the task at hand," stated Heydt.

Stated Grigsby:

"We see the Boyd as an opportunity to enhance our theater program, while expanding our partnerships with other individuals and organizations to create a quality theater experience for our students, community partners, and visitors, while serving as an economic engine for downtown Bethlehem."

Moravian presents the majority of its stage shows in the Arena Theater, Haupert Union Building, 1200 Main St., on the college's main campus.

Moravian also has Priscilla Payne Hurd Campus, which includes Foy Concert Hall, Peter Hall, the Payne Gallery, and music and art department classrooms as well as The Hill student dormitories, Main, Church and Lehigh streets, Bethlehem.

Moravian's theater program, headed by Christopher Shorr, Director of Theatre, has collaborated with Touchstone Theatre on shows, including "Journey From The East," part two of which is to be presented in April 2015 at the Bethlehem-China Harmony Pavilion along the South Bethlehem Greenway.

Heydt cited needed repairs for water damage as the reason for the Boyd's closure. Heydt last posted on the Boyd's facebook page in July 2011.

The Kurtz Theatre, which opened September 1921, was renamed the Boyd Theatre in 1934.

The Heydts bought the Boyd in 1970, previously ran downtown Bethlehem's Nile Theatre, which closed, and booked and managed movies shown at the Nineteenth Street Theatre, Allentown, until 1989 when movies exhibition was taken over by building owner, Civic Theatre of Allentown.

Moravian College, America's sixth-oldest college, traces its founding to 1742.