Theater questions answered during chamber meeting
Theater questions answered during chamber meeting
Questions about the Legend Theatre and community center, and Marion Advancement Campaign (MAC) were answered during Friday's meeting of the Marion Chamber of Commerce.
Jami Williams, a member of the MAC board of directors, explained the campaign's first project would be to establish a movie theatre and community center in Marion. The theatre will run current release movies, although they will not debut at the theatre.
She noted MAC was a not-for-profit organization which means donations are tax deductible and said the group chose Old Settlers' Day to kickoff the fundraising project.
"We're working on some type of challenge for businesses. Perhaps every dollar an employee puts in, the business could match," Williams said.
She said fundraising already was underway. Williams said the foundation would like to raise somewhere between $200,000 and $500,000.
Board member Gene Winkler said he had checked with other similar type theatres who indicated the $200,000 to $500,000 amount would cover half the construction cost.
"Then we could borrow the rest to finish," Winkler said. "If we can get half the money it'll fund itself with income that comes in. That will make the payment."
He noted MAC was just a "vehicle" and that board members could not make the theatre a reality all by themselves.
"This has to be backed by the total community," Winkler said, noting this also includes Hillsboro and other Marion County residents who would utilize the theatre.
Winkler recalled a movie theatre project was planned in the past, however, at that time, Hillsboro was thought to be getting a theatre.
"We backed off because we thought Hillsboro was getting one," Winkler said. "But right now, we need money. Later on, we'll need volunteer help
Board member Mike Powers told chamber members starting the theatre with only half the money would not be feasible for a private venture. However, the not-for-profit status makes it workable.
"We're not reinventing the wheel here," explained board member Susan Cooper, noting other small communities have followed the same path to build theatres. Powers said MAC board members would have liked to have had "more answers" readily available prior to project kickoff on Old Settlers' Day, but wanted Marion High alumni to be involved.
"This foundation is not unlike the K-State, Emporia State, KU, or any other foundation," Powers said. "The K-State foundation allows the Catbackers to do things for K-State. This will do the same thing for Marion County.
"Our goal is to do this theatre then find project number two," he said. Winkler noted that the community center, part of the theatre complex, would be named after a donor contributing a large amount of money to the project.
In answer to an audience question, Winkler said the board still was looking at locations although they would like to make it easy for kids to get to without crossing U.S.-56, and one where plenty of space for parking would be available.
