It is rare to see a historic, nostalgic, art house cinema in our communities today. The marquee ablaze, throwbacks to a Golden Age. Only one of seven historic original American cinema houses have survived. It is less common to be a part of transforming one into a dynamic, national model for independent theaters.
In continued celebration of its 90th Anniversary, the Grandin Theatre Foundation is proud to announce the successful completion of Phase III of their Heart of the Main Campaign. Starting in 2021, Phase III addressed raising funds to complete an integral and comprehensive capital upgrade to the Theatre’s crown jewel, the Main Theatre which seats 300+.
Completion of the campaign enables the Grandin Theatre Foundation to reconfigure the stage by adding a new grand drape and a screen that will move out of the way to reveal a much larger stage area. In addition, they’ll add new stage lighting and greatly enhance the sound capabilities to accommodate speakers, musicians, dance, and more to supplement their firs t– and second–run movie programming. Phase III is the final technical upgrade of the Campaign, and the estimated cost is $350,000. The Foundation is proud to announce that it has reached this financial goal.
“The Grandin Theatre Foundation is indebted to our patrons, donors, corporate partners, and grantors for their enormous support in closing out the Heart of the Main campaign to upgrade our hallmark Main Theatre. The support we received allows us to complete the final phase of this exciting capital project as well as address additional capital needs that were revealed in the upgrade such as additional storage space, green room development, ingress and egress, and artist hospitality. This support is crucial to our vision of making the Grandin’s Main Theatre one of the premiere arts and cultural venues in our region in the immediate and long–range future. We are honored and humbled by the support we received,” said Ian Fortier, Executive Director.
“The Board of Directors set an audacious, yet necessary, goal with the Heart of the Main Campaign, and the community rose to the challenge, said Nathan Schnetzler, Grandin Theatre Foundation Board President. “On behalf of the Board of Directors, we offer our deepest thanks to those who supported this campaign through financial and in–kind donations. Upgrading and transforming the Main Theatre was critical as we continue to diversify our programming offerings while incorporating state of the art technology into our core mission: presenting the best films available to the Roanoke Valley. We look forward to showcasing all of these updates with the community this fall.”
The Grandin plans to complete the capital upgrade project by early September and have the Main Theatre re–opened and ready for full usage. The Grandin will showcase the renovations to the public at their 90th Anniversary Gala, scheduled for Saturday, October 22.
Tickets are on sale now at www.grandintheatre.com/shows/90th–anniversary–gala.
