On May 29th Heritage Ohio was in the lovely community of Brecksville to host one of our series of Historic Theater Workshops, held in partnership with the Ohio Arts Council. Brecksville’s 19th century Town Hall has been carefully restored and is lovingly maintained by the City. Two theater groups alternate occupancy: Brecksville Theater on the Square and Brecksville Little Theater. Mayor Jerry Hruby welcomed our group of about 30 and shared the history of the building and the community’s commitment to maintaining the building as a character defining feature.
The agenda included a variety of presenters on various ways to fund theater rehabilitations, planning and programming: Deena Epstein from the Gund Foundation; Jessica Fagan from the Ohio Cultural Facilities Commission; Don Longwell from the Longwell Law Firm; Jimeka Hollway from the Foundation Center; and Pat Henahan from the Ohio Arts Council.
To summarize the day’s proceedings:
- One cannot under-estimate the need for vision and a strong well-formed long range plan (The Ohio Arts Council helps fund this).
- Approach funders that match your needs (The Foundation Center & member libraries have the resources at your disposal to do this).
- Planning for a state appropriation is not a hand-out; build your groundwork share your plan as you educate state representatives.
- Taking advantage of historic tax credits for rehabilitation can supply a significant amount of capital to a rehabilitation project, but is not for amateurs; yes it is viable, hire the appropriate expertise to make things run smoothly.
Heritage Ohio has been involved in this Historic Theaters Initiative because theaters are an important partner in the revitalization of our communities and the buildings themselves are frequently iconic landmarks in the community- both socially as well as architecturally. We have worked with the Ohio Arts Council, which also recognizes the cultural and economic impact that theaters have in our communities.
What’s next?
Our next workshop will be June 29th in Wilmington the featured topic will be Community Partnerships. The League of Historic American Theaters will be hosting their national conference in Cleveland July 15-18, they are offering a discounted registration to Ohio’s Historic Theaters.
We have had several volunteers working on spin off projects that may interest out constituents. Michael Hurwitz is focusing on Opera Houses, he is writing a play that will be performed throughout the state this fall, visit his new web site at www.historicoperahouses.org. Volunteer Carrie Cox has undertaken a huge task to update a database of Ohio’s historic theaters, based on an inventory from the Ohio Historic Preservation Office. Soon we’ll make that available so that the public can give us updates.
So far our workshop participants have been enthusiastic to learn more from their peers here in Ohio and we look forward to forming a Google group to facilitate even more communication. It’s kind of like looking for a needle in the haystack- finding all of the communities in Ohio which have opera houses and theaters- both operating and under-utilized. If you or anyone you know should be contacted let us know!
