FRANKFORT, Ky. - Among the plentiful historic buildings tucked away in the Capital city is a structure with a name to match its heritage; the Grand Theatre.
The structure has lasted for nearly a century and seen the many changes the city has endured over the years. The present day Capitol was just two years old when the theatre was built in 1911. James McCreary was the governor, William Howard Taft was president and Roy Rogers was born that same year.
Nestled along St Clair Street, the building was present when famed artist Paul Sawyier sat and painted one majestic Frankfort scene after another. Just out of sight of his well known painting "St. Clair Street Peddler," the Grand stood and welcomed patrons to its vaudevillian shows and later would introduce the public to a new medium in those days, the motion picture, first with silent films then on to "talkies." In fact, the theatre became a premiere movie venue in 1941 under the ownership of Chakeres Theatres. The structure was converted from its original 135 seats to a 680-seat "modern" movie house complete with the first air conditioning system.
After its run with the movies, the building fell silent in the 1960's only to be resurrected by way of office space serving a multitude of businesses for the next two decades.
Far too often in landscapes across the country these types of buildings are nothing more than memories, but here, the Grand has become a vision.
A group of citizens became involved with the idea of bringing it back to its original purpose and splendor. That first awakening came in the early 1980's spearheaded by local developer and businessman Bill Cull.
A market research study completed for another downtown project at that time indicated the need for more evening entertainment to boost the tourism dollar but the time had not come for the Grand and the initial project failed.
It would take nearly two more decades for the resurrection idea to resurface once again with the help many in the business and arts community including Cull. He became the president of a non-profit group known as Save the Grand, Inc. at the end of 2004, a position he still holds today.
"We began the process of incrementally developing the project. My view was that the Grand Theatre was an important element for quality of life for people who live here," he said. "There is a huge number of tourism attractions and a charming downtown here but there is very little to encourage people to spend the night. The Grand is a potentially important element in building a tourism base."
Cull added that while his interest comes from a business angle, he loves the arts and he loves what Frankfort will have in the way of a venue for the arts.
In 2005 the group purchased the building from then owner Jim Morris and began the project in earnest.
After some extensive renovations, most notably a reproduction of the theatre's original marquee removed in the late 1960's, the theatre was ready for a test run by 2006. A 36-event schedule that saw nearly 7,000 paid admissions. This success served as an indicator of the community's interest and paved the way for the upcoming grand-re-opening. "It told us there was a desire and the community embraced it," said Cull.
Just as the many who have volunteered and those who have supported the theatre, the business community has been a vital partner as well. Coit is one of those businesses and has provided cleaning services for the building including all of the upholstery. Martin Buckminster, director of business development for COIT Kentuckiana said stepping up to help in a community project such as this is a vital part of their business philosophy.
"When we heard about it, our owner Mark Krish jumped right in and said 'what can we do and let's just donate everything,'" he said. "It's the revitalization of projects like this that brings about values to our culture."
Buckminster added that even in tough economic times, people including business owners tend to refocus and lend a hand to community endeavors.
"We do what ever we can in our local communities to keep those community values intact and character intact," he said.
A lot of effort has gone in to preserving as much of the original splendor of the theatre as possible. Cull said at least 20 of the more than 135 volunteers that currently donate their time and talents to the organization, spent hours washing the walls with mild detergent as not to ruin any of the original art work painted on the plaster.
Ironically when the building was renovated to use as office space, a drop-ceiling was put in place essentially hiding and ultimately preserving the beautiful balcony area on the upper level added by Chakeres in the 1940's.
"People love it, I believe in this community and I think, for the people who visit the theatre, the juxtaposition of the new with the historic, they will enjoy it," said Cull.
Mike Fields of Frankfort, who serves on the Save the Grand, Inc.'s board of directors, remembers much of that beauty. As a youngster he spent many hours watching movies there. His relationship with the structure however, goes beyond that of a spectator. His father used to clean the theatre after each show and Fields was there to help him. "This has brought back many fond memories for me. The work that has been done is just outstanding and I think, we in the community are very excited about the possibilities that exist in bringing some life back downtown," he said. "I spent a lot of time in the Grand with my dad and just walking up the original stairwell that has been preserved was like walking back in time. I can visualize where the concession stand was upstairs and I remember watching western and Tarzan movies."
Fields laughed as he reminisced about finding dropped pocket changed everyday while helping his father with the cleaning chores. He added that while Frankfort has arts events already, it's nothing like what will be coming to the Grand.
The season officially gets underway on September 25 with two shows presented by famed music groups the Coasters and the Platters. Other music events include Grammy nominated guitarist Tommy Emmanuel on Oct. 6 and John Sebastian, an original Woodstock performer and member of the Lovin' Spoonful on Oct. 9 just to name a few.
But music is just a portion of the many events scheduled for the theatre. Nuncrackers, a Bluegrass Theatre Guild production will be coming to town Oct. 16-18 and as well as George McGovern on Nov. 7, a Kentucky Book Fair Partnership event. There will be cultural and educational opportunities for children and of course movies will make their way back to the theatre, too.
For ticket information and a list of the 2009 -2010 season's scheduled events, visit http://www.grandtheatrefrankfort.org. Tickets can be purchased online or by going to the ticket office at 312 West Main Street in Frankfort, Monday-Friday, 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. The telephone number is 502-352-7469. Season tickets, while they last and tickets for the Coasters/Platters shows are on sale now.