THE FOLLOWING IS A NEWS-GAZETTE STORY BY JENNIFER BAILEY
ABOVE: The Lorraine Theatre is a step closer to showing first-run movies again in Hoopeston.
HOOPESTON — After first making an announcement during the National Sweetcorn Festival Parade that movies will return to the Lorraine Theatre, the Save The Lorraine Foundation can now announce it has received a $40,667 grant to reach its fundraising goal to show first-run movies there again.
The theater has been awarded a T-Mobile Hometown Grant, which pushes the foundation past its $120,000 goal for first-run movies and upgraded equipment, according to foundation President Alex Houmes.
An optimistic goal is having movies start again in November or December, but at least by early 2025, theater officials hope.
Houmes said one benefit of COVID-19 was that it made the showing of first-run movies feasible again at the theater. Before COVID-19, movie company rules about showing first-run movies had requirements of screening the movies at least for about four weeks, Houmes said.
“Since COVID-19, rules have really relaxed, and you don’t have to show a movie as many weeks as before,” Houmes said.
With the Lorraine being a single-screen, smaller theater that can hold 318 people in its newer seats, it was tough to show a movie for four weeks or more and make a profit. Now, with the relaxed rules, they can show a movie for two to three weeks, he said.
“We’ll be the only first-run theater in Vermilion County,” Houmes said.
That luxury has been missing in Vermilion County since the AMC Theater closed in the Danville Village Mall two years ago.
It’s been more than 12 years of fundraising and renovations to the 1922 historic theater at 324 E. Main St. in Hoopeston.
Theater officials say, “The much anticipated return of ‘first-run’ movie screenings will be an experience worthy of the Lorraine’s reputation for sound and picture quality. Mixing its historic atmosphere and today’s latest technology, the Lorraine Theatre will once again be ‘The Best Place for Movies.’”
The Lorraine was one of 25 projects T-Mobile selected in this round of more than 650 applicants. T-Mobile has provided more than $14 million in Hometown Grants to 325 communities across 47 states since kicking off its five-year commitment to small towns and rural communities in April 2021.
T-Mobile officials were on hand at the theater Sept. 12 to present the grant check.
Houmes said they had a short ceremony, with the theater already hosting Thursday night bingo twice a month, which has been part of their fundraisers.
There was music and Vermilion Advantage President and CEO Mike Marron was the emcee and spoke about the tremendous impact of the theater on the county.
Houmes said the foundation has been working tirelessly on restoration for the last dozen years. Every event, fundraiser and popcorn run was to get the theater to a point where they can show movies again, he said.
“It’s been a tremendous amount of work,” Houmes said.
Before they could buy the movie equipment, they had to get the building usable again after being closed for about a year around 2012.
The theater, and the Little Lorraine, a smaller nearby building, went back to the bank after the previous owner lost it. Resident Fontella Krout bought the buildings and donated them to the Save The Lorraine Foundation.
Houmes said the year closure really set the theater’s comeback back.
“When we first took over, it was in terrible shape,” Houmes said.
He said portions of the ceiling were collapsed, there was mildew, a leaking roof and electrical and other issues.
The foundation put a plan in place, and renovations allowed them to do work in conjunction with opening the theater for certain events as they could fit it in.
First, they tackled the lobby and foyer, then the auditorium, where live events could return.
Grants and fundraisers kept the renovations going and expanded their goals until the ultimate goal was to reopen the theater for movies again.
“That’s what the Lorraine is known for,” Houmes said.
To keep the community’s connection to the theater and finish renovations, Houmes said they’d operated the Little Lorraine down the block and showed movies and rented the space for private parties and events. The Little Lorraine is now closed and will be used for office space, Houmes said.
“Everything we did there, we plan to continue at the big theater, but on a different level,” Houmes said.
With the $40,000 grant, the foundation can now complete its purchase of the Dolby Atmos movie-showing and sound technology equipment to show first-run movies as soon as they come out, with sound all around moviegoers.
Houmes said they had about $40,000 to $50,000 left in their fundraising goal, prior to the T-Mobile grant, for one of the last portions on a quote they’d received on equipment.
A local business owner had suggested the foundation apply for the T-Mobile grant.
On the morning of Aug. 20, Houmes received an email about the awarding of the grant. He read it and didn’t quite believe it.
“I read it and thought it would say, ‘sorry, try again,’” Houmes said.
He then had to reread it to be sure he read it correctly.
“I think we actually won,” he then said he realized, and sent the email on to someone else to confirm.
They had to wait until this week to make the public announcement.
He’s had a series of phone calls with T-Mobile representatives about the grant and says, “they’ve been great to work with.”
Houmes said this is the start of a partnership between T-Mobile and the theater, where T-Mobile will have advertising on the movie screen and the foundation can apply for additional funding.
“It was like wow, we’re getting $40,000, and now they’re talking about the next level of things,” Houmes said.
Theatre restoration has cost about $600,00 in total, Houmes said. He estimates the entire restoration project has been about $1.1 million in costs and donated labor.
He said they are “pretty proud” that about 60 percent of the $600,000 was locally earned through donations and fundraisers, with the remaining coming from key grant supporters through the years.
The foundation already had gotten quotes and had purchased some movie equipment and has had it installed, working with Fred Walraven, who has experience with movie theaters.
“We want to open with the latest and greatest technology, Dolby Atmos,” Houmes said. “It takes a pretty lengthy approval process.”
He said there are measurements, site layouts and Dolby has to approve it. The foundation has to pay for the license, to move forward with the install.
“Dolby takes surround sound to the next level with ceiling speakers above your head and surrounding you,” Houmes said.
He said the former Lorriane had nine surround channels, surrounding moviegoers with audio. The new equipment will have 36-50 surround channels, he said.
“It’s a major advancement,” he said, adding that movie-goers will be able to watch movies with a great sound system, in a way they can’t watch them at home.
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