Hello and welcome to Iowa This Week, a public affairs program produced by the Cedar Basin Media Stations operated in eastern Iowa.
I'm Jeff Stein in for Tim Harwood This Week.
A lot of towns throughout the state have wonderful historic old movie theaters.
Some of them were
opera houses that were converted at one time and many communities have enjoyed restoring these facilities for live performances, motion pictures, etc.
There's a situation in our neighboring town of Hampton where they need to repair the wonderful old Windsor and I'm joined on the news line now by Jim Davies.
Tell me first of all, what is the Windsor?
Well the the Windsor Theater, well construction began and I'm quoting on a modern splendidly constructed and handsome opera house in 1912 and the building was made possible through the efforts of the members of the nice epicius Lodge and the complete that the building was completed in 1913 then for many years about from 1970 when the first
Films were shown but prior to that the Knights of Pythias continued to use the building until 1938 as a lodge and they also brought in traveling road shows and entertainment for the community and so I guess fast forward the Peterson family of three generations worked there I think from like 1917 and owned it until the 1970s and
The theater itself then closed for showing movies in May of 1996.
And at
that time, the Dick and Verla Waugh family had owned that.
And facing an uncertain future, residents and students organized the non-profit Windsor Theater Development Corporation.
And they purchased the building in December of 1998.
And then following extensive renovations,
The theater reopened May 28th in 1999, so they not only show first-run movies, but they also host live performances, particularly from the Franklin County Arts Council, and then monthly hoedowns, and then other community events such as, you know, rentals for businesses for maybe meetings, things like that.
So that gives you just a history of
the theater from 1912 to the present time.
That's a wonderful history.
And again, if you go online to WindsorTheatre.com, WindsorTheatre.com, you can learn more about it.
And where is it located in Hampton?
I mean, it's got a pretty prime spot right there downtown, does it not?
Right.
It's downtown.
We're north and east of the courthouse, which the courthouse is just on highway three.
Now things were rolling along fine at the Windsor until something happened this summer Jim what happened?
Well the first incident occurred on July 18th a small section of the ceiling fell that was on like the front west seating section of the auditorium and then as a precaution we closed down the first three rows in that section and then
not too long after that, sometime between July 26th and the morning of July 29th, some two larger sections of the ceiling fell.
And that falling plaster affected the front center part of the auditorium as well as the stage.
And we did some inspection and revealed some additional cracks in other areas of the ceiling.
And because of the potential for more falling plaster,
We've limited the seating in the auditorium to the 116 seats that are underneath a balcony that we have.
So there wouldn't be any danger to anyone that came to watch the movie.
So we're still continuing to show movies on a regular schedule.
However, we had to pause or suspend all live performances and other events that require use of the stage.
Well, obviously you have to have safety first and the mere fact that you do have that seating under the balcony, that allows you to continue showing movies, correct?
That is correct, yes.
Okay, so the theater is not closed.
You are still showing movies.
People can get all the information at WindsorTheatre.com, but again, you've lost a lot of the spirit in the life with live performances, etc.
I'm guessing as a non-profit, and again, you're the manager of the theater, as a non-profit Windsor Theater Development Corporation doesn't just have hundreds of thousands of dollars lying around to fix the ceiling.
No, we don't.
All right, so that's the key point right now is we need to raise money so that you can fix this.
What kind of money are we talking about?
This doesn't come cheap.
Well, we initially have a quote
to replace the plaster in all the plaster on the ceiling.
And that's for $115,000.
However, we don't know what the condition of the laugh and the joists are because there's possibility you take the plaster down that the laugh might need replacing also.
So I mean, if you're looking at that expense and there's also would be
like repairing and cleaning the seats, checking the carpet, probably cleaning, maybe replacing, fixing any damage to the carpet and to the floor.
We could expect up to maybe $200,000.
But again, there's so many unknowns.
And I think if your listeners have ever had a project maybe in their house with plaster and glass
and
like an older historic building, you usually
Unfortunately, get some extra surprises in there that you have to plan for.
And so that's what we're planning for.
But the initial cost just for the ceiling replacement is 115,000, but we're looking to try to raise more to try to cover any unexpected costs as well as like cleaning and things like that.
Well, you said if anyone's ever done a project with
plaster and lath.
I'd say if you've done any project, often the costs just get out of hand just because you don't know what you're finding.
So there are a number of ways that people can help.
Now first of all, I want to remind folks we're talking with Jim Davies.
He is the manager of the Windsor Theater in Hampton.
right downtown in Franklin County.
It's more than a century old building and the plaster ceiling began to fall.
They've got to repair the ceiling so that generations can continue to enjoy this unique experience and community theater.
They have a GoFundMe, so if you go to gofundme.com and search for Windsor Theater and Hampton, you'll see that they have the fundraising going on right now through that.
Now folks can also, if they prefer, make a direct
tax deductible contribution because the Windsor Theater Development Corporation is a 501c3 non-profit.
You can make that to the Windsor Theater Development Corporation in Hampton.
The PO Box is 303 and any help is appreciated.
Is there a
timeframe that you're looking at in order to be able to go forward with this, or is there a certain amount that you have to get in hand before you can authorize repairs to begin with the hope that then the rest of the money comes later?
Well, the contractor that we work with the earliest they could start would be Monday, September 21st.
However, we're also pursuing
some grant opportunities.
And, of course, we want to respect what the contractors' schedule and their other commitments are, but we want to be careful, many of those grants, that if you start to work before the grants awarded the amount of expense that
would have already taken place prior to the award of the grant would not be covered.
And
so we are pursuing some grants, one including like from the state of Iowa.
And so I anticipate that, you know, we hopefully can get started by September 21st, but we need to make sure that we have enough funds on hand because again, many of these grants are reimbursable.
You have to spend the money before they pay it back.
That's one of the real troublesome things about grants that people may not realize.
You can't go forward with work because then it looks like you're presuming you're getting a grant and that adversely affects the grant.
But by the same token, the longer you go with a problem,
potentially the worst it could get and again the longer that you're without use of the facility it's a very complicated thing that that I'm guessing you got quite an education yourself this summer unfortunately
yeah I'm just very fortunate to have been experienced had experience working on other projects and that I'm
So I am aware of a lot of those considerations, so that's helped a lot.
How did you first get involved with the theater to where you get to be the theater manager now?
Well, and yeah, and I'm also the president of the Development Corporation.
I was involved in that original group of students and community members that formed the Windsor Theater Development Corporation and
I ended up applying to be the first manager, so I was actually, they opened in Memorial Day of 1999, but I was brought on as manager in March of 99.
It was just more of a part-time job.
I've had other full-time jobs at the time, but it's just always been fascinating and a love of mine to be involved with the theater.
I had attended the theater as a kid.
and do the Peterson family well.
And so that's just how I got involved in.
I've just been involved ever since.
More than a quarter century.
So this is personal in addition to being such a great asset for the community.
Once again, we need to help the folks in Hampton with the Windsor Theater.
They've had a bad break with the ceiling and need
While the initial ceiling replacement project estimate is nearly a hundred and fourteen thousand but we all know that that
often goes higher.
And so if you'd like to contribute, you can go to GoFundMe.com and look for Windsor Theater and Hampton.
You can make a contribution there.
Many of your friends and neighbors I see already have.
Or you can make a tax deductible contribution directly to the Windsor Theater Development Corporation in Hampton.
It's PO Box 303.
But if you go to WindsorTheatre.com, you will see all the information there, the message centers where I'm going to give
you this information.
It's also got a way you can contact Jim Davies, the theater manager for more information.
So if we're talking, let's say the first of the year, where do you hope this project is?
Are we hoping to be completed by then with restoration or what's the timetable on this?
Well, I'm looking at trying to get started by September 21st
and
I think that's quite possible.
The estimated time on the project is five to six weeks, and maybe assuming that there isn't more repair work that needs to be done, so it could go longer.
So if we're very fortunate and can get everything done, maybe we would be back open by November, the first part of November.
But again, if we find that there's more extensive repairs that need to be done, it could go much longer.
Well, the first thing to do is go to WindsorTheatre.com and get yourself educated about this.
And I really hope you'll keep us posted, but more importantly, I hope that this works out well because, again, these are the facilities that are such great assets to communities in my hometown of Toledo.
They did a wonderful restoration and it has just really been a shot in the arm for that.
part of the county and it is no different for the Windsor and its role that it plays in Hampton.
Jim Davies, thanks so much for sharing this information and best of luck.
We really hope this comes across the finish line sooner than later for you.
Well, I appreciate it and I might add one quick thing at the end.
Yes.
If you're looking for, we do spell theater on our website with an R-E, like the historic spelling as opposed to E-R.
So that might possibly
help you define the website quicker.
No, that's a good idea to mention that.
It looks like Theatree is opposed to Theateur.
Right.
We're going historic.
That's the best way to be.
Thanks again for all the time.
I appreciate it.
Yeah, thank you very much.
Jim Davies, the longtime manager of the Windsor Theater in Hampton.
And again,
Got a ceiling issue, need your help for that non-profit, keep that valuable community resource going.
WindsorTheatre.com, again theater is spelled R-E at the end, WindsorTheatre.com, go to the notes section that you'll see there on the website, message center and
You'll see the link for GoFundMe or the address if you want to make a direct contribution or just learn more.
WindsorTheatre.com and Mr. Davies was kind enough to join us on the news line from his home base in Hampton.
And that's Iowa This Week produced by the Cedar Basin Media radio stations operated in eastern Iowa.
Tim Harwood will be back next week.
Have a good weekend.
I'm Jeff Stein.
