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
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