Soo Theatre Project Gets Cool Cities Grant

From The Sault Evening News, 08/11/04

Soo Theatre Project gets 'Cool' cash

SAULT STE. MARIE -- Supporters of the Soo Theatre Project gathered to witness the presentation of a $100,000 Cool City Pilot Program check to the organization's president, Dianna George, by Rick Ballard and Jim Davis, both from Michigan's State Housing Development Authority on Friday, according to a news release.

The grant will enable the Soo Theatre Project to renovate two storefronts to create the Soo Theatre School of the Arts, install accessible restrooms for the Soo Theatre Complex, and open a cafe adjoining the theatre as a limited menu eatery. The cafe will later become the concession for the theatre. Plans for the money also include updating the heating, plumbing, and electric utilities on the building's street level.

Upon opening the Soo Theatre, which will be operated with funds obtained from room use fees, income from the cafe, and rent income from a fourth storefront, organizers hope the Theatre project will help energize that block of Ashmun Street and help with the revitalization of downtown Sault Ste. Marie, according to the release.

In the spring of 2005, preparations will begin for the demolition of the block wall that has divided the theatre since the 1970s. A fund-raising campaign, titled "The Curtain Can't Go Up Until the Wall Comes Down," is under way to raise matching monies required by the Cool City Pilot Program grant.

A $25 donation gets a donor's name listed on a storefront wall and later in the theatre lobby. For information about the campaign or the Soo Theatre Project, a newsletter is available at most downtown businesses in Sault Ste. Marie. Donations to the project can be sent to P.O. Box 1435, Sault Ste. Marie, 49783.