Lakewood’s scrappy, 7-year-old Benchmark Theatre is leaving its longtime home in the 40 West Arts District and entering a period of temporary hiatus effective immediately, co-founder Haley Johnson confirmed Wednesday. The company will return when it finds both its creative bearings and new places to perform, she told The Denver Gazette.

Benchmark is the anchor tenant of the 59-seat salon theater in the West Colfax Business District at 1560 Teller St. Johnson cited “ever-rising overhead costs” as the primary reason for the decision to leave now. She emphasized that Benchmark never would have made it out of the pandemic shutdown had district CEO Bill Marino not offered free rent in 2021 and parts of ’22. The landlord also discounted rent 50% through 2023 and ’24.

The decision comes at a precarious time for the local arts community, when other creative organizations are experiencing their greatest financial vulnerabilities coming out of the pandemic. The long-established Curious Theatre is in an existential financial fight for its life that might force it to leave its 26-year home at the Acoma Center. Benchmark is similarly finding that owning – or even merely renting – a year-round space is becoming unsustainable.

“There are more pros than cons to having your own facility,” Johnson said. “The cons include having to continually program for the entire year just to keep revenue coming in. It’s challenging to constantly come up with compelling programming that both meets your mission and puts butts in the seats. Is it fair to our patrons to have to put shows on all year just to keep the lights on?”

That mission Benchmark has filled since 2017 has been offering compelling, daring, fresh and intimate stories not normally told anywhere else. But Johnson has learned how much easier life can be when audiences recognize a title or author. Benchmark’s adaptation of George Orwell’s “1984” and its staging of “Meteor Shower” by comedian Steve Martin were its two most-attended shows until a high-profile exploration of the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots set a new attendance record last summer. Most shows, she said, average about 50 percent capacity – or about 30 patrons per performance.

“We want to support new work, and audiences say they want new work, but they don’t come out and support it,” Johnson said. Benchmark’s final staging in its longtime Lakewood home will be remembered as a new work by local playwright Jeff Neuman called “The Road to Lethe.”

In a statement issued Thursday, the 40 West Arts District, which does not own the building at 1560 Teller St. but does control the lease “to ensure it’s a home for creative organizations,” said “it breaks our hearts whenever a creative business has to close or relocate.

“Arts Districts and organizations are vital to community health and vibrancy, and art is essential to the human experience. … We hope that, as a community, we are able to support (Benchmark) to keep producing the amazing work that so many of us have enjoyed.”

Benchmark was founded by Johnson and Rachel Rogers and in 2018 succeeded the Edge Theatre at its boutique location. Benchmark now joins a large number of itinerant companies that are competing for fewer and fewer spaces to rent, such as the Buntport Theater, Savoy Denver, Vintage Theatre and The People’s Building in Aurora. Aaron Vega, who runs the People’s Building, says his space on East Colfax Avenue is largely booked through 2025.

That space crunch makes it all the more curious that Benchmark would leave its current home behind without a new place to go.

Johnson declined to comment on other possible factors that may have played a role in the decision to leave now. But, anecdotally, working at or attending evening performances at Benchmark has become more fraught of late, some have expressed. A report last year in the Lakewood Informer said the city has 26% of Jefferson County’s overall population but 50% of its homeless population. Last week, the Lakewood Police Department launched a new program targeting car theft.