An effort is underway in the small north-central Minnesota community of Staples to restore a hidden theater. Built in 1908, Batcher's Opera House is located above a department store-turned-antique shop. History buffs say it provides a rare glimpse into theater in the early 20th century. Minnesota Public Radio's Laura McCallum reports.
[ROAD NOISE] LAURA MCCALLUM: Driving into Staples on Highway 210, it's hard to miss the former Batcher's department store. It's the biggest building in town. But there's nothing to indicate the opera house hidden inside. Go around the building to a side door, up a wide set of stairs, through another door, and, suddenly, you're in a two-story theater about 90 years old. Ignore the water damage and beat-up seats, and you can almost picture the vaudeville and Chautauqua lectures that took place here in the first half of this century.
TOM DUNN: All of these murals are from 1908. All the lighting fixtures are from about that period. The drops on stage are linen drops, which are-- you literally can't find them anywhere in the country.
LAURA MCCALLUM: Tom Dunn is probably the biggest cheerleader of restoring this opera house. Dunne, who lives in nearby Browerville, is the artistic director for the New Tradition Theater Company in Saint Cloud and has worked on the restoration of five old theaters. He says the Staples opera house is remarkably intact.
TOM DUNN: I've seen 50 of these around the country, and most of them are in horrible, horrible shape. And you have to spend literally $3, $3, $5 million to fix them up.
LAURA MCCALLUM: Supporters of restoring the staples opera house expect to spend $700,000. The biggest expense will be adding an elevator, followed by repairing the leaky roof. Dunn says they'll preserve the theater's historic aspects-- the hand-painted murals in muted colors, the box seats, the original gas footlights on stage. Backstage, Dunn flips switches on an ancient light board that would make an electrician cringe.
TOM DUNN: When you flip them, you get a little spark to show you're working. And yeah, no, and that's all these lights out there. Before you got here, I went ahead and turned them all on one by one. And--
LAURA MCCALLUM: Dunn says he believes the reason the opera house survived the wrecking ball is because it is hidden and was never turned into a movie theater or a warehouse. It sat empty for about 50 years, still owned by the Batcher family. And some nearby residents don't even know it exists. But that anonymity makes it difficult to generate enthusiasm and money for restoring the theater. Jeanette Evans, who helped organize the local community theater, serves on the Batcher's Opera House board.
JEANETTE EVANS: Most people think-- they haven't seen a lot of progress. And people think, well, if you renovate, you just go up there with some hammers and pails and you do the work. But they don't realize the tremendous effort that you have to put into organizing and organization and getting the funding and the tax-free status. And so we've spent probably over a year just getting some of the legal things worked out. And so now we're chomping at the bit to get going.
LAURA MCCALLUM: Evans says this winter's heavy snowfall was particularly hard on the opera house, and supporters are anxious to begin renovations before another year passes. They've applied for grants from three Midwest foundations and hope to use foundation support to raise money locally. With the mentality of "if we build it, they will come," boosters hope an opera house restored to its original splendor will draw tourists to a community that's seen its retail sector struggle in recent years. Longtime Staples resident Mel Nefstead, who heads the community's Chamber of Commerce, says the theater should appeal to Americans with a sense of history.
MEL NEFSTEAD: I think, in the past, there's been such a quick move to eliminate and build anew. Some of that's OK, but some of that is really destructive. And we would just hope that we can reach far beyond the boundary of Staples area and move out to and touch the people's sensitivity towards the historical things that we have in our country.
LAURA MCCALLUM: Theater history buff Tom Dunn says the opera house in Staples is a style called prairie simple-- very little gilding, just murals painted on plaster, and, if renovated, would be one of just three left in the country. But historical preservation money has dried up in recent years. And it remains to be seen whether supporters vision of a cultural centerpiece for Staples becomes a reality. In Collegeville, I'm Laura McCallum, Minnesota Public Radio News.
Digitization made possible by the State of Minnesota Legacy Amendment’s Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund, approved by voters in 2008.
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