By Jason McFarley, Truth Staff
The latest proposal to improve the Elco Theatre mirrors a push by communities and preservation advocates nationwide to promote restoration of historic theaters as a catalyst for downtown redevelopment.
"One of the problems with downtowns is they tend to roll up the sidewalks at 5 o'clock," said Norman Tyler, an Eastern Michigan University professor who has studied the link between refurbishing performing-arts centers and revitalizing downtown districts. "A theater can be a feeder for restaurants and shops that stay open later. There's a wonderful symbiosis."
Tyler, director of urban and regional planning programs at the campus in Ypsilanti, Mich., said well-trafficked theaters also can create demand for new businesses.
Across Indiana, nearly every city's downtown once was home to a movie screen, opera house or vaudeville stage built in the late 1800s or early 1900s.
At one time, there were at least 2,000 such buildings statewide, according to an inventory that the Department of Natural Resources began conducting four years ago.
About 300 of the buildings are standing today, said Jeannie Regan-Dinius, special projects coordinator for the DNR's preservation division, which in 2002 started a campaign to revive historic theaters.
All told, 80 percent of Indiana cities have lost their vintage entertainment palaces to the wrecking ball, dormancy or conversion to other uses.
"As we were going to different communities, people were saying, 'What are we going to do with this theater? It's kind of the white elephant in the middle of downtown,'" Regan-Dinius said, explaining the origin of the theater-preservation initiative.
The state's primary concern is saving the buildings, not ensuring that they continue operating as theaters. Even so, Regan-Dinius said her office has become a clearinghouse of information for municipalities, nonprofit groups and investors intent on keeping their marquees lighted.
The resources point them to arts grants, tax credits for restoration projects, help listing their buildings on historical registries and case studies of flourishing renovated theaters. State workers also visit many of the sites for consultations and compile a database of vendors such as screen cleaners that serve the theater industry.
The like-minded League of Historic American Theatres provides similar strategic support to the industry. Its workshops across the country teach principles of how to run and restore theaters.
"There are terrific economic and cultural benefits for a community," said Fran Holden, executive director of the Baltimore-based trade organization. "It's a theater, a celebration of a community's culture. And it attracts ancillary business."
Holden likened theater restoration to "recycling in the most positive way," saying that it sustains architecture from bygone eras.
But it comes with inherent challenges, according to experts:
* Many would-be patrons view downtown areas -- and historic theaters -- as past their heyday, despite efforts to redevelop them.
"Especially in a smaller community, it really takes wide community support to make it work. It can't be the single vision of one person or group," Holden said.
* There's a shrinking supply of money for the arts. Many theater restorations hinge on state or federal grants, as well as private donations.
* Renovating the buildings becomes particularly costly if they must be overhauled to accommodate modern audiences and performers. Creating a contemporary facility may mean expanding the lobby and backstage area, making bathrooms handicapped-accessible and replacing old film projectors with digital equipment.
"There are often longtime maintenance issues also," said the state's Regan-Dinius. "With a big building like that, it can get expensive."
* Even theaters that experts consider successful usually don't become financially self-supporting after their makeovers. It helps to engage the public with a variety of cultural events and opportunities to lease the building for private gatherings, but that likely won't cover all the bills, said Tyler, the Michigan professor.
As Holden sees it, the proposed Elco project probably won't go far without a public-private partnership similar to the recommendations that the city is considering. For a restoration of its scope, she said, it will take more than seeking grants and raising money privately.
"In a community that size, I would imagine it would take strong public leadership and an investment from the city," Holden said.