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View of the stage and original ad drop curtain at the Elkader Opera House, Elkader, IA
From the mid-1830s until the depression years, lowans erected structures to house theatrical performances in practically every town and hamlet. These “opera houses” were not so much theaters, but structures associated with entertainment in general and seldom actually featured operatic performances on their stage. Once the focal points of their communities, a majority of the performance venues struggled to survive and eventually closed. Hundreds of these structures were demolished, either by neglect or for
development.
A number of these performance venues do still exist in historic buildings in commercial districts across Iowa. Through grants and tax credits, the state of Iowa has invested financial resources to help communities restore and upgrade historic theaters, but rescuing and rehabbing these venues was not enough to ensure their sustainability. The same passionate group of individuals who worked to halt the demolition and “save the opera house” in their local community did not have the capacity to manage a performance venue.
Main Street Iowa, a program of the Iowa Economic Development Authority’s Iowa Downtown Resource Center, created a one-of-a-kind three-year program to provide help for performance venues located in Main Street districts. By improving theater operations, the draw for people to become patrons of the theater who would potentially also support businesses in downtowns across the state could be greatly improved. This extraordinary initiative was funded by USDA Rural Development thanks to a Rural Community Development Initiative Grant.
Seven rural Iowa communities in designated Main Street districts with performance venues in historic buildings were selected for a pilot program: Bloomfield, Burlington, Corning, Elkader, Keokuk and Spencer. The participating theaters were in various stages of transitioning from the process of rescuing their theater from demolition into implementing a sound business development strategy.
Main Street Iowa went to significant lengths to learn the about the challenges and needs of each of the seven participating theaters and their communities to determine the content focus for the technical assistance. A preliminary needs assessment and conference calls with Main Street staff and the seven pilot communities were conducted in 2012; trade area information from ESRI and the US Census Bureau was collected, and Main Street Iowa staff assisted recipients with understanding and using this information. This advance planning effort permitted us to deliver content that was specific and relevant to the needs of the individual operations.
Kennedy Smith, Principal of Community Land Use + Economics Group, LLC was retained to work with Main Street Iowa staff to coordinate services the first year of the program. Her experience as the longest-serving director of the National Main Street Center and former Board member and Executive Director of the League for Historic Theaters made her the perfect choice to provide the technical assistance, including conference calls, site visits to each of the seven participating communities and two webinars.
View of the attendees at a workshop at the Spencer Community Theater, a historic grocery store that has been brilliantly adapted for re-use as a theater in Spencer, IA.
Four workshops were held in 2013: An overview and discussion of the needs of the group was conducted by Ms. Smith; Ken Stein, Executive Director of League for Historic American Theatres, presented a session on Marketing for Historic Theaters; Fundraising for Historic Theaters was presented by Alice and Halsey North of the North Group, and Cindy LaRoe from Proctor’s Theater shared information on Recruiting and Managing Volunteers. In addition, a Listserv was developed to promote regional collaboration, and a Manual of Examples and Best Practices for Main Street Iowa Theaters was created, and provided to the theaters.
In 2014, Susan Palmer, founder of the Palmer Westport Group, was chosen to provide facilitated technical assistance and workshops. The format for the workshops was one half day devoted to a particular topic specific to the theater that was hosting the session. These sessions were open to volunteers and staff of performance venues and local Main Street programs in rural Iowa communities. The second half of the day was a one-on-one intensive with the host theater and the consultant. As might be expected, the sessions almost always developed into the discussions concerning financial challenges faced with operating an historic theater, and how robust fundraising solutions are often needed to balance the budget.
The final workshop of the year was held in Des Moines, Iowa on November 6th. The training included a keynote presentation by Susan Palmer and Sarah Sperber of the Palmer Westport Group; a panel on “Best Practices in Theater Management” featuring Kevin Mc Quade, Manager of Pella Opera House, Nick Halder, Assistant Professor at Clarke University and Producing Artistic Director of Rising Star Theatre Company; and Carol Pollock, Executive Director of Hoyt Sherman Place. The group heard from Paula Mohr, Architectural Historian with the State Historic Preservation Office and Shawna Lode, Manager of the Iowa Tourism Office on “Opportunities to work with State Agencies.” The attendees also participated in a tour of Hoyt Sherman Place, and a discussion of three critical issues: 1) What have you done to strengthen the capacity of your organization?; 2) What plans do you have in place for continued leadership?; and 3) What have you found to be most effective ways to sell tickets?. Additional discussion focused on next steps in collaboration and partnerships for the group.
(1) View of the stage at Greenfield Opera House, part of the Warren Cultural Center in Greenfield, IA (2) View of the of the recently restored marquee at the Burlington Capitol Theatre, Burlington, IA
The third year of the program is still under development. As part of the initiative, Main Street Iowa will provide a number of scholarships to staff and volunteers from historic theaters in Iowa to attend the spring Regional League of Historic American Theatres conference, which will be held in Des Moines, Iowa’s capital city, on April 15 and 16, 2015. Conference attendees will get to experience the "Hollywood in the Heartland," exhibit at the State Historical Museum in downtown Des Moines. The 6,400-square-foot exhibit highlights the state's historic theaters and their role in communities, and recognizes individuals who have made an impression on screen and behind the scenes.
What a fantastic experience it has been to help strengthen the capacity of these small theaters. Each workshop and visit presented unique challenges, but the collaborative spirit prevailed. Through the ongoing opportunity to network with each other, relationships were cemented and ideas, expertise and experiences were shared - giving voice to many solutions for challenges that are unique to the realities of running an historic theater.
Terry Poe Buschkamp is the Main Street Promotion Specialist for the Iowa Economic Development Authority’s Main Street Iowa program. She has been with the state coordinating program since October of 2008. Along with her other duties, she serves as the team leader for the Historic Theater Program.
With input from:
Susan Palmer, founder of the Palmer Westport Group, a consulting firm focusing on strategic planning, master planning, market plans, fundraising, leadership and organizational development, specializing in historic theater
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