Exterior work nearing completion
After a little over two months after renovations started, progress on remodeling the Main Street Theatre is going smoothly, president Lyndie Mansfield said, with steelwork going up to support eventual new bricks.
“I don’t quite have a timeline on that, but that would be last thing,” Mansfield said, adding new doors and windows would also be installed lastly. “Then we’ll start working on the inside.”
Of the project, called Operation Save the Theatre, the exterior work is the largest portion. Interior work includes post-renovation cleaning, rebuilding the dressing room that were disassembled and redecorating. Mansfield has set Jan. 14-15, 2022 dates for the theatre’s grand reopening, which will so far include a performance from The Heroes, a Commerce duo of Brad Davis and Joel Weaver both nights.
“We don’t have many other details besides that,” Mansfield said. “We don’t have ticket prices yet, but we’ve set the date and set the entertainment.”
While construction has been ongoing, various small donation fundraisers have been held such as the corn hole tournament at Backstory Brewery over the weekend or the fire pit raffle. The largest one-day fundraiser, Mansfield said, came at the Stew Contest, when Main Street Theatre was the recipient of drink sale funds.
“They’ve helped tremendously,” Mansfield said. “We’ve done well. Hopefully that will cover our cost for cleaning and the interior decoration that we want.”
Fundraising will continue for long-term projects including upgrades to the heating and air-conditioning to include the lobby and to insulate existing vents in the auditorium.
“That’s a large dollar item on our list,” Mansfield said.
The theatre will also be hosting a production, “Charley’s Aunt,” two weeks after the reopening. The production had previously been set for this month, but it was postponed until after the theatre was open. Mansfield is excited at the prospect of having a building again.
“It’s hard to operate without a building,” she said. “Everybody’s split in different directions, and I feel like we can really come together when we open.”
In the meantime, the theatre and its acting troupe Community Players will stay active in the community such as the nighttime show they hosted during Cooper Lake State Park’s 25th anniversary celebration. They will also have a volunteer cleanup weekend at the theatre in the future.
On Saturday 8 a.m. to noon, a yard sale of old props and set pieces from the theatre will held at the B&B Rentals on Jefferson Street. Mansfield said most items will likely need to be repurposed or refurnished, but there are some nice set pieces. Proceeds will go back to the theatre.