Hardacre Theater preservation group achieves nonprofit designation

 

Donors can now claim tax deductions to

help save historic theater

TIPTON, Iowa—The Hardacre Theater Preservation Association (HTPA) announced today it has achieved its long-awaited goal of attaining 501(c)(3) status from the IRS, making the group an official nonprofit organization and opening doors for the organization and its donors.

With nonprofit designation, the HTPA can now offer tax deductions to donors who want to help save the theater and pursue grants and funding opportunities only available to 501(c)(3) organizations.

“We are thrilled to attain this status, as it will open so many doors for not only the Hardacre Theater Preservation Association but for its donors,” said Greg Brown, HTPA president. “Many grants are available only to nonprofit organizations. Attaining this status will help us realize the community’s vision for the Hardacre Theater.”

The Hardacre Theater is a nearly 100-year-old opera house and movie theater that, until August 2013, was in continuous operation since it opened in 1916. The theater is home to Iowa’s longest-running film festival—the Hardacre Film Festival—which celebrated its 16th year in August 2013. The movie industry’s rapid evolution from 35mm film to digital projection has left many single-screen, privately owned theaters scrambling to upgrade to digital or close their businesses.

The HTPA’s goal is to purchase and upgrade the Hardacre Theater, creating a multi-use venue for both recorded and live entertainment. The first fundraising phase will be to purchase the theater building, then renovate and upgrade its technology to create a state-of-the-art entertainment and cultural facility.

The group is formulating a fundraising and grant-attainment plan. Anyone interested in donating and following the Hardacre Theater’s journey to renovation can visit the HTPA’s website at thehardacre.org.

Film festival a part of the Hardacre Theater’s legacy

The Hardacre Film Festival attracts filmmakers from

all over the world to Tipton's Hardacre Theater.

Most films shown are less than a year old and

have never been seen in Iowa.

 

 

Please click HERE for a short video about the 2012 Hardacre Film Festival, including interviews with presenting filmmakers!

Aside from the Hardacre Theater’s legacy as a rare Midwestern movie palace and historic opera house, it’s also home to Iowa’s longest-running film festival. The Hardacre Film Festival is celebrating its 16th year Aug. 2 and 3, and it’s a cornerstone of the theater’s history and legacy as an Iowa treasure.

The first Hardacre Film Festival was held in a single day in 1996 and featured nine films, all projected on 35mm film. The packed house enjoyed the films in a theater without air conditioning.

The festival has grown considerably since then (and added air conditioning for comfort). In recent years, the festival has typically shown six feature-length films and dozens of shorts from all over the world. Hardacre has hosted filmmakers ranging from Oscar nominees to first-timers, from as close as Iowa City and as far away as New Zealand. They all come to Tipton with a common purpose—getting their film seen by an engaged audience of independent film lovers.

Attending the Hardacre Film Festival is to participate in the cutting edge of film—and it even gives audience members a view into the future. I remember two years ago when we showed a 2011 short shot in a silent, black-and-white style. Months later, “The Artist” became a movie phenomenon and went on to win Best Picture at the Academy Awards. Last year, we showed a documentary on a high school wrestling team produced by and featuring Chris Pratt, who at the time was best known for the TV show “Parks and Recreation.” Since then, Pratt has starred in the Oscar-nominated “Zero Dark Thirty” and has been cast as the lead role in next year’s Marvel adaptation “Guardians of the Galaxy.” Our 2011 Audience Award winner, the crime drama “Boy Wonder,” went on to appear on Roger Ebert’s “Best of 2011” list. Attending a film festival like Hardacre puts moviegoers ahead of the curve.

I moved to Tipton in 2001, and the cultural legacy of the Hardacre Film Festival was a big draw for a movie fan like myself. I’ve been proud to watch regular patrons return to Tipton year after year, bringing friends and family members who are instantly hooked and decide to make the Hardacre a regular part of their summer plans.

The festival is more than a Tipton bragging right. It’s a unique event that brings people from all over the world into our town. On second thought, that is something to brag about.

Please click on the following links to find out the schedule and films to be shown at this year's film festival.

SCHEDULE

FILMS 
 

-Will Valet, Vice President of the Hardacre Theater Preservation Association

Oh, the possibilities!

Since a group of Tipton residents formed the Hardacre Theater Preservation Association (HTPA) in 2011, we’ve seen a lot of exciting developments. In the past few months, we’ve formed committees, held a successful fundraiser, and met with a lot of people who are passionate about keeping the Hardacre Theater as a vital part of downtown Tipton.

But there’s one meeting in particular I’d like to share. Something inspiring.

Last February, some HTPA members met with a group in Toledo, Iowa—a town roughly the size of Tipton. We toured the Wieting Theatre—a beautiful, single-screen movie theater the town resurrected and rehabilitated into a state-of-the-art movie palace and live entertainment venue. Over several years, a group of volunteers in Toledo raised the money to fix up the building and equip it with the latest technology.

Our tour guides clearly had a great sense of pride as they showed us the beautifully finished hardwood floors (a holdover from the original building), the 3-D projection system, wiring and plumbing. With a sense of historic preservation balanced with modern features, the Wieting is simultaneously a thing of the past and a piece of the future.

We showed them pictures of the Hardacre Theater—its attributes and the things that need work. They nodded in recognition. They’d been there, too.

 

The volunteer crew behind the Wieting didn’t have wide experience in running an entertainment venue, but they pulled together and relied on their talents—a woodworker here, a computer programmer there—to breathe life back into the building. The theater now attracts crowds from surrounding communities with its inexpensive admissions and concessions and books exclusive events like concerts from the Iowa Opera House Project.

We can have that here in Tipton, too. Let’s work together to make it happen!

-Will Valet, Board Member

Welcome to our blog!

Welcome to our new blog! As our campaign really gets rolling, we thought it would be great to have a blog where our friends and supporters can get the latest scoop on how the Hardacre Theater Preservation Association is doing.

For our first blog post, I’d like to give you the inside scoop on our first fundraiser, the Hearts for the Hardacre event that we had on February 16^th. It was a beautiful evening full of soft lighting, lovely music, familiar faces, and INCREDIBLE food!

The event was held inside the beautiful A Place to Land Café on main street in Tipton. The art gallery setting was perfect for an event supporting the arts in Tipton! We strung up ivory Christmas lights and placed Moroccan lanterns to cast a romantic glow on everything. Instead of renting expensive table clothes, we used deep red and brown shimmery gift paper and vintage floral wallpaper samples for table coverings. We then dropped red flower petals all over the tables to really give everything a "Valentine's" feel.

Board member Will Valet’s wife Callie and several of her friends teamed up to create a breathtaking cascade of beautiful and decadent desserts. From cream puffs to cake pops to fruit kabobs covered in chocolate…. this table had every dessert you could imagine!

Our guests were treated to a lovely meal of roast beef and gravy or chicken Kiev, with several side options, provided by Family Foods. Several different wines accompanied the meal and were provided by Dan Boddicker of Red Cedar Wines. His delicious Cranberry and Crabby Apple wines were among the favorites of the night. Board members and local volunteers carefully plated the food and acted as wait staff to our guests. You would never have known that this was a fundraiser event and not a high-end dining establishment!

One of our volunteers welcomes one of our guests to their table.

Red Cedar Wines

Dan Boddicker helps our guests pair the perfect wine with their meal.

Throughout the evening, local favorite duo the Stoplight Sisters helped create a relaxed and romantic mood with their beautiful duets. Their acoustic ensemble was the perfect sound to fill the space and enhance the mood.  At the end of the evening, Mary Barnum of the Stoplight Sisters and Dan Boddicker treated guests to a performance of Van Morrison’s Moondance.

The Stoplight Sisters

Board President Greg Brown updates our guests on the campaign.

Toward the end of the evening, Board President Greg Brown updated guests on the Hardacre campaign and asked guests to consider a donation to support the cause. Those who came to the event were very generous and the evening’s donation total far exceeded our expectations! We are so very grateful for the generosity of those who attended our event. Because of you, we are that much closer to reaching our goal of purchasing the Hardacre building and restoring it for our community.

I'd like to close by thanking those who made this event possible.

Mary Barnum and Moira Depasquale

The Stoplight Sisters

Rev. David Lorenzen &

First United Church of Christ, Tipton, Iowa

Stuart Clark &

The Tipton Conservative

Carla Boddicker &

A Place to Land Café

Mike Goetz &
Family Foods

United Methodist Church, Tipton, Iowa

Daniel Boddicker &
Red Cedar Wines

Event volunteers

Sandy Harmel

The Cook family

Callie Valet and friends

Thank you for visiting our blog. Come back to visit us soon!

Cheyanne

Board Member

 

To keep up-to-date on how our campaign is going, please log on to: www.thehardacre.org or 

re-visit our blog!