GOSHEN, Ind. (AP) - Work toward restoring the luster of an early 1900s theater in northern Indiana is getting an unexpected $1 million boost.
Leaders of the Goshen Theater Board said a family that’s remaining anonymous recently pledged $500,000 to its renovation project and it is being matched by the Community Foundation of Elkhart County. That’s allowing the group to broaden the $4.2 million in work now going on at the theater in downtown Goshen, including a new elevator, new restrooms, a partial fire suppression system, auditorium improvements and a lobby expansion.
The donors want to inspire new life in the theater’s interior, so the money will go toward new seats, carpeting and paint and ceiling plaster repairs, theater board President Everett Thomas said.
The 700-seat theater dates to 1905 and fell into disrepair before the theater board took it over in 2014.
Organizers expect completion of the current renovation plans within six months.
“We really feel, when those doors do open in late May or early June of 2020, it’s something we will all be really proud of,” board Vice Chairman David Daugherty said. “People are ready for Goshen Theater to reopen.”
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