Murphy's Law states that whatever can go wrong will go wrong. In the case of Touie and Denise Smith and their Liberty Theatre it has been an issue of getting their ideas off the ground.
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"We had a vision of wide doors opening onto an entrance and tall tables that people could dine, have a glass of champagne and watch a show. And over here, long rows of fold down chairs," Touie Smith said, pointing at the stacks of broken chairs in the Liberty Theatres dusty bottom floor.
Touie and Denise purchased the Liberty Theatre with the vision of restoring it to its former glory and then somehow giving it back to the community.
"We still want all these things for the Theatre but we are sick of bashing our heads against the wall," Mr Smith said.
Touie and Denise Smith are hoping to sell the Theatre to a local buyer, "It is time for the members of the community to step up if you want the Liberty Theatre."
"The Theatre to us is no longer a passion but a commodity of trade. We are offering the Community the option to buy."
Touie and Denise asked the Yass Valley community, "Do the Yass and District want and are they prepared to support a community owned theatre or do we sell it to commercial interests and probably lose a once in a lifetime or once ever chance of restoring an art deco icon back to its original glory for entertainment and pleasure of the community and for future generations to come."
The Smiths are offering the Liberty Theatre to any members or groups in the community interested in purchasing it.
"Once it is gone it's gone forever. No good complaining next year what might have been," Mr Smith Said.
"It's up to the community. We can do no more. We will wait until December 2014."
The Smith's express their dissatisfaction with the council saying that they have obstructed the forward progress on all DA's.
"We believe that council may be more responsive to a community body than to individual citizens such as us and we feel that new blood and a new start are needed for such a project. We will give all our knowledge, accumulated items and information and will provide any assistance we can to a community led initiative," Mr Smith said.
The Smiths see that there are only two potential futures, to be owned by the people of the community or sold to commercial interests.
Mayor Rowena Abbey says that she wishes the best of luck to the Smith's and hopes that all goes smooth with their plans to sell.
"I hope the building does stay in Yass hands because it is an icon," Mayor Abbey said.
When asked about why Council had not progressed any DA's or plans by the Smith's in relation to the liberty theatre Mayor Abbey said no formal plans were ever submitted.
"We talked conceptually with Mr Smith but no plans were ever submitted," Mayor Abbey said.
"The council cannot actually fund a private building, so there was no way that we could help financially. However, we hope that eventually the Liberty Theatre will be restored."
Director of Planning and Environmental Services Chris Berry confirmed that no formal application was ever submitted.
"Usually what we do is have a pre-lodgment meeting which is designed to discuss concerns and issues before a formal application has been lodged," Mr Berry said.
"We are very happy to work with the landowner of the Liberty, on restoration and preservation, because we have a priority to heritage buildings. It would be great to get the Liberty restored and we would help as much as possible on our end to help the plans move through the application processes."
The Smiths have had one community group interested in Yass and some interest from outside investors.
"We would be devastated if an investor came in to demolish the theatre, but what option do we have, we want the theatre taken off our hands," Mr Smith Said.
