etown host/founder Nick Forster was determined to buy the aging church located at 1535 Spruce St. He knew he wanted to re-convert it to become the base of operations for his environmentally-friendly radio show and create an entertainment hub in downtown Boulder. Forster was even willing to become ordained by the Universal Life Church to speed up the process.

The church certificate did come in handy when Forster was asked to officiate over the marriage of rock ‘n’ roll icons Lou Reed and Laurie Anderson two months ago.

The etown host must have friends in high places, because on July 11, Forster was finally able to purchase the downtown Boulder church he’d been eyeing for more than a decade. The building formerly housed Unity Church, the Salvation Army, and most recently the Elim Tabernacle of Christ.

“Having this new etown Hall will really serve Boulder and the Front Range in a new way,” said Forster. “It will enable us to have a variety of new ways to distribute our message and to reach a wider audience. I used to live in this downtown neighborhood and I’d always looked at the possibility of buying the church. This was the right thing to do at the right time.”

The etown radio program was developed to create a sense of community and to educate listeners about the environment and prominent social issues. Locals get to be part of the live recording process, and the show is now broadcast coast to coast on NPR, public and commercial radio stations.

However, one of the big etown pulls is the wide range of musical acts that have graced the show’s stages. The roster is pretty inclusive, but in recent years the show has brought in popular, contemporary acts like Ani DiFranco, Ben Harper, Aimee Mann, Bright Eyes, Jason Mraz, My Morning Jacket, Charlie Hunter and Colorado’s own DeVotchKa.

“etown is going on 17 years,” said Forster. “Our mission has always been to use music to build a community that helps people learn more about the care of the planet. Now, these ideas and values are even more important and better accepted then they were 17 years ago.”

Forster and his staff are planning to bring even more music and live events to Boulder via the new etown Hall. That’s not all – the organization will be moving its entire operations from its west Boulder foothills location to the new downtown location.

“We officially closed on the church on July 11 – it’s now owned by etown and the bank,” said Forster. “There’s this incredible feeling about having this new building. It’s the continuation of a life dream. It’s going to be really exciting, and it will give us the opportunity to bring a new music venue to Boulder. They’ll be more acoustic shows –they’ll be non-smoking and no alcohol will be served.”

Forster and etown also wanted to be “good neighbors” to the Whittier neighborhood, so events at etown Hall will end by 9 p.m.

“We went through a lot of lengthy processes with the neighbors of the Whittier neighborhood and the city, before this was approved,” explained Forster. “We agreed that we wanted to be a ‘good neighbors’ so there will be no parking on site. We’re downtown, so people can use public parking garages. We’re also going to encourage people to use public transportation and we’ll put up sets of bike racks. We’re really centrally located.”

Forster says the early show times will encourage people to get off from work, catch a bite downtown, see a show at etown Hall – and be home by 9:30 p.m.

As an agreement to the city and neighborhood, the new downtown venue is also limited to offering 12 events a month. That scenario boils down to three events a week, so etown plans to make the most of that time.

“We’re going to be able to bring so many amazing things to Boulder,” said Forster. “We’re going to be able to host smaller, acoustic shows. The Boulder Theater is still really our home for etown, but we’ll bring artists to etown Hall that make sense. There are some ideal artists we can now bring in that would fit a 200-seat venue. We’ll also be able to get artists that might be playing other places in town – like Red Rocks. We’ll be able to offer both kinds of artists.”

According to Forster, etown Hall will also play host to a variety of master classes and workshops with local and nationally known musicians, and lectures by guest authors and e-chievement award winners (recipients of the show’s weekly humanitarian awards).

The concerts and lectures will be held in the church’s main hall and Forster says etown Hall will keep the church’s hardwood pews in place. The building also features a downstairs cafeteria that hosts a commercial kitchen, so coffee and bakery treats can be sold during intermissions. In addition, The etown offices will be located on the upper floors of the building. The building will be undergoing major renovations this year.

The etown Hall site also features a gymnasium. That section of the site will be renovated to create a sound stage recording studio that can be used for both audio and visual projects.

“We’re going to move to the building in a year – it will take a year for the substantial renovations to take place,” said Forster. “We have to add things like an elevator, handicapped bathroom space and fire sprinklers to bring the building up to code. We’re also going to make this building super green. We’re going to try to generate our own power at etown Hall. We’re going to be able to make records there and we’ll be able to capture killer content in a variety of formats. We’re going to use all the tools that technology offers.”

The new building is etown’s dream venue. Yes, it’s true. Forster did become a minister to try and obtain his dream hall.

“I’d been thinking about this building for etown since 1991, and I was told we couldn’t use it, because we weren’t a church,” said Forster. “It’s been frustrating trying to buy this building, so midway in the process I got ordained online with the Universal Life Church. What etown does is really like a church – we celebrate, volunteer and have inspiring messages. After I printed up my certificate of ordination I got a call that this couple wanted to get married and I said I’d do it. So, two months ago I married Lou Reed and Lori Anderson. It was a small, simple service.”

While Forster isn’t looking to officiate over many other weddings, he does want to bring that sense of celebration and community to etown Hall.

“We want to really be a part of downtown Boulder and bring things in like neighborhood meetings, sessions of the World Affairs Conference, and other events that will benefit the community,” said Forster. “We want to offer a consistent selection of music and events. This will be a show place for Boulder.”

In the next few months, etown will start the process of hosting fundraising events to help renovate 1535 Spruce Str. In a time when downtown venues are deleting their music schedules, etown Hall may answer the prayers of music-hungry fans.