Soo Theatre Project Inc.
and Soo Theatre Arts
Resource Studios (S*T*A*R*S)
Take II Action!
Summer 2005
P.O. Box 1435, Sault Ste. Marie,
Michigan 49783 906-632-1930
www.sootheatreproject.org
Click here
for a PDF version of this
brochure.
On Friday, August 5 at 6:00 p.m. and
again on Sunday, August 7 at 1:00 p.m., Soo Theatre Project,
Inc. and Sault Community Theater are combining efforts to put a show on the stage of the old Soo Theatre. At each performance Sault Community
Theater will do a play written by Steve
Welch for the 150th celebration of the Locks. Soo Theatre Project will stage a different variety show each time with well known local performers. Each performance will be kicked off with a Sault Ste. Marie song sung by the
Soo Theatre Project Board of Directors. The theatre is a long way from opening for regular business, but this weekend will give everyone the opportunity to see the potential of opening this wonderful old theatre.
The Walls are Down
The “walls came tumbling down” in February and March.
The theatre is one big theatre with a stage once again.
The community support for this effort was overwhelming.
In-kind donations amounting to over $30,000 and thousands of volunteer hours
brought the dividing walls down and cleared the debris from the auditorium.
Look at our website (sootheatreproject.org) for
many photos of the demolition and clean up
and the thank you to the major in-kind
donors. These photos and many others will be on display in the lobby during Side Walk Sales, August 5th and 6th.
Soo Theatre Arts
Resource Studios
S*T*A*R*S
Renovation of the Soo Theatre’s Ashmun Street retail space is in progress, partly financed by a grant from the Michigan Cool Cities Initiative. The new space will provide a dance
studio and classroom, two music studios, barrier-free restrooms, and a snack bar.
Soo Theatre Arts Resource Studios
(S.T.A.R.S.) is expected to be open in September.
S.T.A.R.S. will offer private lessons and small classes in music, dance, and theatre, instructed by a professional faculty in a safe and pleasant barrier-free environment. S.T.A.R.S. will not only be a great opportunity for regional citizens to learn, it will provide an income for the Soo Theatre Project to help cover operating expenses.
The demolition and rebuilding of the studios has been done almost entirely by volunteers. Of course, the updating of the wiring, heating, and plumbing is being left to the professionals.
Future plans call for a larger dance and multi-purpose room, music and art studios, and offices to replace the small apartments upstairs. The expansion of S.T.A.R.S. will provide lots of opportunity for citizens of the area to get involved in the arts.
Your S.T.A.R.S Logo Here
S.T.A.R.S. needs a logo. Enter our Contest. Guidelines for entries:
- The logo needs to represent Sault Theatre Arts Resource Studios (S.T.A.R.S.), which is a School for music, dance, theatre and fine arts.
- The logo is to be used on t-shirts, letterheads, coffee mugs, bumper stickers, etc.
- The logo must be legible and lend itself well to large or small size.
- The logo may be submitted in color, but should also work well in black and white.
- The logo must be able to be silk screened or embroidered.
- Please do not sign or initial your entries, as they will be judged anonymously.
Entries must be postmarked by August 19, 2005. Entries should be mailed to:
Your S.T.A.R.S. Logo Here
Soo Theatre Project
P. O. Box 1435
Sault Ste. Marie, MI 49783
All submissions will be judged by the STP Education Committee.
The winner will be announced at the Soo Theatre Arts Resource Studios Open House on August 30 at 6:30 p.m. and will be awarded a t-shirt featuring their logo and $100. Questions?
Please call Soo Theatre Project at 632-1930 and leave a message. Someone will get back to you.
Thank You
The Soo Theatre Project, Inc. (STP) Board of Directors wants to thank all of the individuals and businesses who have donated time, money, and services to the Project. We couldn’t have done it without you! A special thank you goes to Edison Sault Electric for their grant of $35,000 and to the Hudson Foundation for a pledge of $20,000. STP was one of the first recipients of a Michigan Cool Cities Initiative grant of $100,000. Since the purchase of the building in 2003, great progress has been made. There is a great deal of renovation and restoration yet to come, but Board members are confident that it can be done with the support of the Eastern Upper Peninsula community.
Organ Donors!
Thanks to two generous people, Soo Theatre Project is now the proud owner of two theatre pipe organs. And thanks to John Ignatowski for locating them, and organizing the “moving parties” of volunteers to get them here. Donated to STP by John Neyrinck is a W. W. Kimball Theatre Pipe Organ, built in 1924 for the Lyric Theatre in Blue Island, Illinois. And thanks to John Rinn for donating a Wurlitzer Theatre Pipe Organ, built in 1916 for the Stratford Theatre in Detroit.
Each instrument will be installed in its own organ loft in the Soo Theatre and will be playable together as one instrument, but will remain playable separately as well. Soo Theatre will definitely be unique with two theatre pipe organs
History of the Soo Theatre Project, Inc.
The Soo Theatre Project, Inc. was organized in 2002, and purchased the Soo Theatre complex for $85,000 in March of 2003. The group plans to restore the historic theatre for both live and film performances and renovate the site’s former storefronts and apartments into a newly created school for the arts, the Soo Theatre Arts Resource Studios (S.T.A.R.S.).
The Soo Theatre Project’s Board of Directors and Steering Committee have worked hard to solicit donations from the community and to recruit volunteers. Volunteers have been organized to put on fundraisers, clean, haul junk, take down old ceilings and walls, publish and distribute information and progress reports, write grant proposals, frame walls, put up drywall, paint, you name it!
How You Can Help
Join our “Bring Back the Lights” campaign - an ongoing fund raising effort. Pledge over a number of years or make a one-time donation. Details in flyer.
Contribute to our “The Curtain Can Go Up Because The Wall Is Down” drive. A modest donation of $25 puts your name on the wall in the storefront and later in the lobby. See the flyer.
Volunteer your time - Call the theatre at 632-1930 and leave a message. Someone will get back to you. Or email any of the Board members.
- Dianna George, president - diannageorge7@hotmail.com
- Colleen Arbic, vice president – barbic@lighthouse.net
- Mary McKay, secretary – amckay@30below.com
- Alistair McKay, assistant secretary - amckay@30below.com
- Debbie Cole, treasurer – 9coles@sbcglobal.net
- Melissa Belevender – melissab@eup.k12.mi.us
- John Ignatowski – pianotuna@sault.com
- Marian MacLeod – mmacleod@bmic.net
- Richard Trautwein – sjames@sault.com
- John Wilkinson – jwilkenson@yahoo.com
- Kris Thorne - dkthorne@sbcglobal.net
- Larry Peterman - ljpeterman@30below.com
- Taylor Brugman – tk.b@charter.net
Or contact us by email at info@sootheatreproject.org
Back to the top
|
