It was curtains again for The State Theater of Havre de Grace.

The historic 1908 venue near the Harford County waterfront was, until recently, a celebrated part of the city’s live entertainment renaissance — one of three revitalized spaces to reopen in Havre de Grace in recent years.

That came to an end July 1, when city administrators finally shut down the theater, saying the 300-seat venue had continued to hold events — rock concerts, wrestling matches, drag show brunches and more — without a final permit.

The move follows a dispute between Mayor Bill Martin and theater owner Jared Noe. The owner has publicly criticized the town’s administration, and last week he posted a scathing letter that accused the mayor of retaliating by closing The State Theater. The mayor’s office, meanwhile, has argued in its letters to Noe that officials tried to help, but their patience wore out.

Now, the folks behind the theater are organizing to try and reopen the doors. Noe’s calling for State Theater fans to attend the City Council meeting Monday at 7 p.m. and show their support.

He intends to appeal to the council to join him in asking the mayor for a three-month extension to allow for a “save the State” event as he works to raise $32,000, finish the renovations and finally bring the old movie palace into compliance.

Noe is optimistic after a fundraiser began online Friday and quickly brought in more than $6,000.

“I have no doubt that we’re going to get to the $32,000. If you asked me this on Thursday, I couldn’t confidently say,” he said. “Give me three months. We’ll get it done. We know where the goalpost is now.”

The mayor did not immediately respond to an email Saturday.

A live entertainment venue halfway between Baltimore and Philadelphia, the theater’s history traces back a century. It was originally a cinema that brought the first theatrical runs of “The Wizard of Oz” in 1939 and the original “Ocean’s Eleven” in 1960, according to its website.

Noe began renovations in 2018, and he reopened the theater as a venue for live entertainment in 2020.

In an earlier interview, the mayor said the city did everything it could to help Noe. That included taking on a big risk when it granted him temporary permission to open the venue without a sprinkler system as required by the fire code.

“We’re kind of embarrassed,” Martin said. “We should have never done this to begin with.”

The mayor said he’s just trying to run a city and feels sorry that the matter has come to this point.

“Jared always plays the victim,” Martin said. “The guy who got every break in the world from the city now says the city is trying to go after him.”

Noe outlined his complaints in the four-page letter posted online. Their relationship soured after Noe submitted a bid in 2022 to manage the city’s new STAR Centre theater with a profit-sharing model for tickets, sponsorships and food and beverage revenues.

Noe claimed that his bid came with the lowest cost and risk to the city. Only, the city passed him over for the job.

Noe became increasingly critical of the bid process and believed the center lacked proper oversight. He called out the STAR Centre’s budgeting and financial management practices at council meetings.

At the same time, his letter claims, the city doubled its estimate for the State Theater sprinkler system to $90,000. Noe also wrote that he was banned from volunteering at the city theaters of the STAR Centre and The Opera House.

Another grievance was the city’s decision to remove The State Theater shows from its public events calendar. Martin said city officials were just following the advice of their attorney.

It was too risky to say “Go see a show in this fire trap,” Martin said.

Noe went on to accuse the city of stalling to release state grant money for renovations of the theater. The $100,000 grant wasn’t released until the spring of last year, he said.

“They’re trying to paint this whole argument that the building is unsafe and we’ve had a five-year extension,” he said.

The conflict came to a head on June 9, when Noe gave public comment during a City Council meeting criticizing the budget for the upcoming fiscal year. The budget included $2 million for management of the STAR Centre and The Opera House, Noe said.

Days later, on June 17, the city told him he had 14 days to complete outstanding work on The State Theater or be shut down. In another letter dated July 2, the administration wrote him that he must complete the sprinkler system and work on the heating, ventilation and air conditioning to use the theater again.

Martin said his only regret is allowing The State Theater to open before it was ready.

The theater is planning to host Sunday’s FWA Dominion VIII Live Pro Wrestling event down the street at the American Legion 47, and to refund ticket holders for upcoming shows.