The Highland Town Theatre will get another reprieve from demolition, at least for a few days.
John Glass, operations manager for East Chicago-based Actin Inc., said a combination of bad weather and delays with other projects on its end will bump the 71-year-old theater’s demolition past Jan. 3. The original demolition date was Dec. 12.
Glass said a new demolition date could be set after Jan. 2.
Built in 1946, the 425-seat theater fell into disrepair before being taken by the town at tax sale. In 2014, the Town Council agreed to move forward with the theater renovation and the town subsequently bought the two adjacent buildings to help expand the theater’s footprint.
The Highland Town Council at the end of January 2017 voted 3-2 to stop the theater renovation. Councilman Mark Herak, I-2nd, made the motion to terminate the project, taking no further action or devoting funds toward it. Councilmen Steve Wagner and Konnie Kuiper voted with Herak; Council President Dan Vassar and Bernie Zemen cast the dissenting votes.
Clerk-Treasurer Michael Griffin said previously the $3.2 million theater project would’ve cost a homeowner with a $150,000 house $8.63 per year, and up to a dollar less for those who haven’t yet hit the property-tax circuit breaker. The original cost estimate from architectural firm VOA was approximately $1.9 million in 2014, which included the roof, audio-visual equipment and furnishings.
Additionally, the Town Council in February voted to not move forward on restoring the marquee because of its level of disrepair. A $25,000 grant issued by the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs and the Indiana Office of Tourism Development was returned, Redevelopment Director Kathy Deguilio-Fox said.
The theater’s marquee and ticket booth will come down with the building, Deguilio-Fox said. She said Actin representatives told her because the two items were “levered into the structure,” and the structure is in such disrepair, they couldn’t be salvaged.
Public Works employees removed the popular suits of armor and some of the artwork, Deguilio-Fox said, and they’re being stored in one of the department’s garages. The town will also be able to salvage the theater’s projectors and find another use for them in town, officials said.
Michelle Quinn is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.