PowerPoint Presentation

Rapids TheatreRestoration ProjectFieldwork by Tammy HoppeLifetime Member of This Community1Theatre BalconyThe mission of the Rapids Theatre board of directors is to restore this historic relic of architecture to be used as an event center, with this part of the theatre being completed first so the building can be opened for event rental, generating more income to help supplement the top (third) level renovations budget.A stunning view of the first level stage from the second level balcony shows were dinner guests once sat at tables eating their meals.23Projector in Projector RoomThe Rapids Theatre restoration project is dear to me because of my communitys as well as my own personal history with the building. Throughout my life I have experienced this location as a cinema, interior design store, fabric and quilting outlet, dinner theatre, restaurant, and abandoned treasure.The entire projector is still assembled in the projector room propped up at the back of the second level balcony.45Stairs DetailThe Rapids Theatre has been a notable part of this community for almost 100 yearsthe building was erected in 1916. Besides having housed diverse businesses, this location has welcomed celebrities such as Lawrence Welk and his orchestra in the once glorious third level ballroom (J. Telford, personal communication, November 1, 2014).These stairs lead to the second level theatre balcony. This is one of several staircases joining the upper and lower levels of the Rapids Theatre.677Restored BalconyThe restoration of the Rapids Theatre was begun in 2011 thanks to the foresight of Jackie Telford and Matt Dengler, who first realized this building is a diamond in the rough and then had the ambition to pull it back to its original days of glory.A view of the newly revealed and restored balcony now overlooks the top of the Rapids Theatre marquee.89Front WindowsThese are the correct style of windows on the front (north) wall of the building, but there was a conflict with the windows ordered for the west wall of the building. The correct style of window will be ordered and installed this winter (2015).These windows flank the east side of the newly revealed front balcony and are the first windows to have been replaced and restored in the Rapids Theatre restoration project.

1011Plaster Lath DetailAlthough the exterior has been fully restored to its original theatre appearance, the interior is still in deconstruction. Interior walls have been cleared of plaster and lath or simply removed altogether. The final remaining section of one hundred-year-old plaster lath gets removed before interior walls can be restored.1213Skeleton ofInterior WallsWith more recent not-to-code construction having been removed, its obvious that outdated electrical and other interior work still has to be brought up to contemporary building code regulations. Todays work must specifically meet requirements for National Register of Historic Places.All plaster lath has been removed from the interior walls, revealing outdated electrical work and other things in need of repair.1415Piles of Plaster and LathClean-up after deconstruction takes time and lots of volunteer work. We have had a lot of volunteer laborlots of volunteersbut we need more than that; we need money to keep going (D. McCormack, personal communication, November 22, 2014).The ceiling of the orchestra pit has been removed from the floor and hauled to the trash.1617Third Floor AccessThird floor access is structurally sound, as is the rest of the building, but will be completed last in the restoration project.These beautiful stairs lead guests to the third level of the Rapids Theatre building, which is the ballroom.1819Ballroom GraffitiRestoration of this third level will encompass the majority of the budget. Opening the first floor for event and stage rental will generate income to help fund the ballroom restorations.Children of the previous building owners painted graffiti with their friends in several places on the historic ballroom walls.2021Original RapidsTheatre Row ChairsOriginal seating will be reinstalled where possible, awakening local community members memories of the past and stirring the imaginations of visiting facility guests.The original Rapids Theatre rows of chairs have been set aside until a later date when they too can be attended to.2223The Rafters and Holes in the FloorThe old wood floors are not so lucky, though. Due to decades of a leaky roof, the wood floors are warped and rotted. Much of the flooring has to be replaced.The rafters are in great shape and will remain so now that the exterior roof has been restored.2425The Orchestra PitReminding the community of exciting local histories can be beneficial in numerous ways:Teach diverse cultures to coexist peacefullyPromote understanding of culture and heritageStrengthen community relationshipsGrow outstanding learning experiences found in your home community(Villeneuve, 2009)The orchestra sat up above the dance floor of the ballroom where Lawrence Welk has performed.2627Salvaged Original DoorsAs many original features as possible have been reclaimed and will be restored and reused in the Rapids Theatre restoration project. Many of the original Rapids Theatre doors were able to be salvaged and will be restored in due time.2829The Original Front Rapids Theatre DoorsAlthough the faade and front entrance of the Rapids Theatre appears finished to passers-by, it currently functions more accurately as a warm welcome that invites patrons of the past and dreamers of the future to visit the memories of what used to be and the visions of what is yet to come with the restoration of this segment of a small towns big history.These original front doors of the Rapids Theatre have been restored and reinstalled at the hefty price of $18,000.3031ResourcesVilleneuve, P. & Sheppard, D. (2009). Close to home: Studying art and your community. Art Education, 62(1), 6-13.32Rapids Theatre Faade33Chapter 2Rapids Theatre Restoration Project:A Case Study34Rapids Theatre Restoration Project: A Case StudyTammy HoppeUniversity of Florida

35Table of ContentsIntroduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37Supporting Literature. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38Overview. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41Description and Discussion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44Implication for Art Education. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4936Rapids Theatre Restoration Project:A Case Study I chose to do my fieldwork at the Rapids Theatre, which is now in the process of being restored to the beautiful historic piece of architecture it once was. The faade of the Rapids Theatre (Figure 1) appears finished to passers-by, but the cold, naked skeletal structure exposed in the buildings interior is far, far from finished. Jackie Telford and Matt Dengler had the foresight three years ago to conceive of and then coordinate the renovation of Rapids Theater, a small town relic of a building with quite a history (J. Telford, personal communication, November 1, 2014). I still remember going to movies in this very theatre when I was a child. Figure 1. Rapids Theatre ticket booth and front doors. This image shows the fully restored main entry of Rapids Theatre.

37 Over the years I have seen this building serve several different functions. Now I have been doing my fieldwork assignment here, giving myself the opportunity to leave my own mark on this historic piece of architecture. The progress of this buildings restoration can be followed at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Rapids-Theatre/205426966201220, where, upon project completion, a calendar of dinner theatre performances and pictures of theatre events will be posted for the dedicated friends and patrons of the Rapids Theatre to follow.

Supporting Literature

The inspiration for my work on this field study began with information from Villeneuve and Sheppards (2009) article, Close to Home: Studying Art and Your Community. This article explains that art education with a community-based approach gives art educators a local emphasis to use when introducing and expanding curriculum. The benefit of this approach is that students as well as teachers get a new opportunity to notice the treasures that lie close to home but may be taken for granted or misunderstood (Villeneuve, 2009). Rapids Theatre is one of our little hometown treasures that had been forgotten but is now being brought back to life through extensive renovation. Villeneuves (2009) article reminds readers that the study of community-based art education (CBAE), such as this local architectural restoration project, can teach that (a) different cultures can coexist peacefully; (b) community-based art projects promote better understanding of 38personal culture and heritage; (c) collective contributions and collaborative work strengthen community relationships; (d) many outstanding learning experiences can be found in your home community. All four of these points hold value to me in my educational philosophy and thus affect my choice of curriculum and teaching methodology. Stakes (1994) work, Case Studies, is another inspiration in my field research. First, his content gave me a foundation for understanding what a case study is and does. My own case study is the study of an architectural treasure and its renovations that hold both the potential to quality for the National Register of Historic Places as well as the ability to be used as a beautiful, fully functioning event center, theatre, and cinema. According to Stakes (1994) list ofthree types of case studies, the Rapids Theatre project is an intrinsic case study because, in all its particularity and ordinariness, this case itself is of interest (p.237). It is not intended to be an instrumental case study that has a place in understanding some other case study, nor is it a collective case study that is intended to help with understanding the meaning of a whole group of case studies (Stake, 1994). Second, Stakes content also guided me in the nature of information I should be looking for. Stake (1994) offers a well-rounded list of especially helpful research content topics:the nature of the case;its historical background;the physical setting;other contexts, including economic, political, legal, and aesthetic;other cases through which this case is39 reorganized;those informants through whom the case can be known (p. 238).Finally, Stakes (1994) content truly enlightened me to the value of triangulation as a method of seeking multiple perceptions in order to verify consistency in data. Because of this new learning I purposefully and consistently interviewed four different stakeholders in the Rapids Theatre restoration project. My final inspiration in my own field study project is King-Ratcliffes (2014) capstone project. King-Ratcliffe interviewed three teaching artists in the CBAE sector and shared her findings in such an eloquent and comfortably readable manner. Her data gathering process was the interview, which yielded an entertaining narrative report format. I intend to use King-Ratcliffeswriting style as inspiration for my own reporting of interview data in my case study research project. Additional inspiration in my qualitative method of interview data collection comes from Ribbins (2007) and his thoughts on what makes quality interview questions as well as on the different forms an interview can take. Ribbins (1994) most beneficial suggestions for my own research project include, first, asking questions that encourage interviewees to reveal what is on their minds without suggesting desired answers and, second, knowing that there are different ways of interviewing such as chats, discussions, interviews, and verbal questionnaires. This new knowledge enabled me to explore three different interview data collection strategies: chat, discussion, and verbal questionnaire. The data collected through these methods was40very interesting and consistent among participants.

Overview

The mission of the Rapids Theatre project is to restore this historic relic of architecture to the beautiful theatre, cinema, and ballroom it once used to be. The goal of the projects board of directors is for this building to be used as an event center, with the first floor seating and stage as well as the second level balcony (Figure 2) to be completed first so the building can be opened for event rental, generating more income to help supplement the third floor renovations budget. Jackie Telford and Matt Dengler are the founders of the project and started their advocacy work in 2011. The current RapidsFigure 2. Rapids Theatre Stage from Second Floor Balcony. The balcony lines the west, north, and east walls and was once housed seating for dinner guests.

41Theater board of directors includes Jackie Telford (co-founder and president), Matt Dengler (co-founder and vice-president), Norma Jansma (treasurer), Dorothy McCormack, Julie Tolvstad, Shane Meyer, and Pete Pettingill. The board has largely been coordinating legal business with an architecture firm in Des Moines that is in charge of designing period-accurate architectural detail and also getting the legal paperwork completed for the National Register of Historic Places. They then organize the hands-on work of local volunteers based on their information from the architecture firm. On the third Thursday of each month they hold meetings to coordinate communication and keep progress moving along. Once the Rapids Theatre restoration project is completed, the building will be available to rent for events such as receptions, dinner theatre plays, reunions, etc. There will be no kitchen but there will be a food preparation area for caterers or renters to use. The first floor is the stage level and the second floor is the theatre balcony, projector room, and small apartment with balcony. These two levels will be restored first, probably by the end of summer 2015. The final level to be restored is the third floor, or the ballroom, which will also be available to rent either separately or in conjunction with the theatre and balcony levels. The long-term plan is that the bottom two floors of the building can soon be rented out, generating an income to supplement a portion of the third floor restoration budget.

42 To date, all of the project funding has come from donations, Forster Charitable Trust funds, and Lyon County Riverboat Foundation (LCRF) grants (J. Telford, personal communication, November 8, 2014). Donations have come from several locals as well as friends and family of locals or at least fans and patrons of theatre arts in general. The Forster Charitable Trust funds are a local private granting and funding entity in the name of a prominent family of this communitys history. The Grand Falls Casino in the same county sponsors the generous LCRF granting and donations program. Future restoration budget money will come from these same resources but they provide timely and somewhat limited funds compared to the overall budgetary needs of the restoration project. With the projected sum budget being two to three milliondollars, a rigorous fundraising plan is of dire need. Therefore, to attain the goal of completing the entire restoration by 2017, the Rapids Theatre board of directors is collaborating on other more notable income ideas, one being a matching funds challenge in which the local banks and other businesses are challenged to match donation amounts with those of the general public. I will be helping with this endeavor by putting together more research and documentation as well as presenting preliminary ideas for educational materials such as fliers and pamphlets.43Description and Discussion

I still remember going to movies in this very theatre when I was a child. I especially remember three different movie-going adventures: one with my whole family waiting in the freezing cold to get tickets to see a Christmas movie, another with my group of best friends all cuddling closely during the saddest parts of Windwalker (1981), and a third one with my little sister and brand new foster sister when I saw a boy and girl kissing for the first time. The project participants I interviewed shared stories similar to these about their own memories of the theatre. They appeared equally as passionate about their vivid recollections of Rapids Theatre as they did about their commitment to achieving the restoration goals. Signs of these high levelsof commitment can easily been seen in the volunteers presence and hands-on work many Saturday mornings throughout the summer and fall months. Some Saturdays are workdays on which they clean, move, deconstruct, touch up, mark, observe, or discuss some of the necessary tasks. Completed tasks to date (November, 2014) include removing all doors from doorways and moving them to the basement to be stored until it is their turn to be repaired and restored, removing walls and other construction additions that are not historically accurate, pulling all plaster and lath from remaining walls, and getting outdated insulation out of the rafters all the way up to the roof (R. Oliver, personal communication, November 15, 2014). Also completed is the roof, renovation of the balcony level and marquee, replacement of44the south windows, and restoration of the original front theatre doors and exterior faade. Telford clarifies that the cost of getting the work this far along is $201,000 and that the big expenses are coming next (personal communication, November 8, 2014). Projected project tasks include an elevator that will go all the way to the third floor, redoing or replacing all interior surfaces, new electrical and other specialty work inside the walls, and huge double hung windows for the west wall. We need an elevator and thats going to cost big money: big money (R. Oliver, personal communication, November 22, 2014). An elevator has to be put in somewhere but we cant put it where we wanted to because of all the citys wires in the ground, and it would cost way too much to move all those wires. We just need tothink of another way (N. Jansma, personal communication, November 22, 2014). The elevator discussion has already revealed one of the larger project expenses, and troubleshooting possible solutions is ongoing. In addition to preparing the stage for dinner theatre performances and the floors for dining tables and chairs, the project board of directors is planning to make showing movies a possibility once again. The necessary equipment to show movies in the theatre will cost $70,000 (R. Oliver, personal communication, November 22, 2014). The original film projector still sits in the projector booth at the back of the second floor balcony level appearing anxious to run its next reel of film (Figure 3). Although this machine is historically valuable, it is no longer necessary and will45not be restored as part of this overall project. Over the years I have seen this building take on several different functions. After first remembering it as a theatre, I recall when it was used as an interior design and window treatment store. Next, it was a fabric, quilting, notions, and sewing machines store. After that it was converted into a ritzy restaurant and lounge (The Intermission) that opened and closed three different times over the years. Today the building is in the process of returning to its original appeal. The project continues to move along slowly although consistently. As funding becomes available and proper architectural information gets approved and passed on to contractors, stages of restoration take place with the help of numerous volunteers. New windows will be installed this winter on the west wall and then first floor and balconyFigure 3. Original Rapids Theatre Film Projector. The projector still sits in the projector room and all of the machines parts are still assembled.

46restorations will take place during the summer of 2015. By the fall of 2015 Rapids Theatre may be ready for event rental, generating its own income to assist with the budget for top floor renovations that will be taking place last. With consistency in volunteer help and improvements in funding income, this entire restoration project could be completed as early as 2017. Although it would be wonderful to have the building ready sooner, everything in the process appears strong and effective because of its consistency in progress, support, and leadership. The board of directors is doing all it can do to keep each step of the restoration process moving along in an acceptable legal and affordable manner. To add my own element of support, I will design potential printed, digital, and online educational materials and I will continue my research anddocumentation of the Rapids Theatre restoration project.

Implications for the Field of Art Education

As an art educator with a growing involvement in and commitment to the restoration of Rapids Theatre, I see tremendous benefits in the field of art education with studying and helping out in a project such as this. As Villeneuve (2009) warned, stronger community connections and awareness of local culture and heritage are greatly heightened in this type of work. Additionally, the intrinsic rewards that accompany the collaborative work of collective assistance are extremely gratifying. These are learning experiences visual arts teachers can provide children in a school arts education program simply by including a 47study of an architecturally interesting or historically relevant building right in the schools home community. Otherwise, a community-based art education program can either work on or in such an interesting alternative site for art education. Even if students do not take up a hands-on role, they can still develop a personal interest in or commitment to local history and culture through the study of community architecture. My personal connection to the Rapids Theatre restoration project at the beginning of my study definitely influenced my potential for a greater level of growth and high quality learning. Students might not be able to begin a similar study with the heartfelt relevance I had because they likely would not have the fond memories upon which to build new learning. To overcomethe learning advantage I had with my already developed personal connection to the structure, an art educator should begin the study of a local architectural celebrity with careful consideration of how to get students to draw personal connections to the project. The art educator would have to design alternative methods for generating student interest and commitment through avenues such as historical and cultural connections, mathematical challenges, scientific mysteries, architectural and design elements, or storytelling possibilities. Further studies of this theory could be done right in the art classroom or even at locations within walking distance of the art classroom. Studies could also be conducted in conjunction with homeroom teachers learning activities such as fieldtrips or explorative excursions. The key questions 48in such research might be what elements of a site-based learning activity draw the greatest levels of student interest in and commitment to new learning? and how can new site-based learning activities be designed so that these same draws of interest and commitment are present each time? I feel these are questions teachers are already asking themselves regularly, but a conscious study of such information would greatly inform and strengthen an art educators curriculum planning and teaching methods.49References

King-Ratcliffe, M. (2014), A study of three teaching artists working within a community-based arts education setting.

Ribbins, P. (2007). Interviews in education research: Conversations with purpose. In A. Briggs & M. Coleman (Eds.), Research methods in educational leadership and management (pp. 207-223). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.

Stake, R. (1994). Case studies. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative research (pp. 236-247). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.

Thomas, E. B. (Producer), & Merrill, K. (Director). (1980). Windwalker [Motion picture]. United States: Santa Fe International.

Villeneuve, P. & Sheppard, D. (2009). Close to home: Studying art and your community. Art Education, 62(1), 6-13.

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