FAIRBURY - Lights, popcorn and almost action...
The Bonham Theatre is nearing completion after years of renovations. A group of dedicated volunteers have worked hard in seeing that a piece of Fairbury's history remained a part of the community.
President of the Bonham Theatre Project Brooke Schwab says, "People in the community started coming together and saying 'Okay what are we going to do? We cant lose our theatre.'"
In January of 2013 the group bought the building. Brooke is one of the many residents that had grown up visiting the theatre and says that community members will be impressed by its overall transformation - from bathrooms to artistic details.
"What we thought we had to do to begin with when we bought the building, and what we ended up having to do was...completely night and day. We ended up having to do a lot more than we expected."
But the work isn't done. Brooke says help will be needed in managing theatre operations, such as concessions and cleaning.
"You know we are all volunteers on this board so now we got to learn, 'Okay, how do you run a theatre?' So that's kind of where we are at right now. As we are finishing up the construction phase, we're starting the 'run a theatre' phase."
Brooke says they hope to begin showing movies closer towards the end of the year. She's thankful for the funding that made this project possible and excited to see the movie theatre come to life again.
"The first movie was shown - I believe, it was September 27, 1926. So, a long time!!"
Historic Bonham Theatre Nearing Completion, Amazing Transformation
