…they need to step in to offer their guidance and assistance. The Hortons people are clearly in over their heads, they can’t even form a long-term business plan with which to obtain additional funding from the village of LaGrange for continued restoration. Come to think of it, considering what’s been done, maybe that’s a good thing.
My point is, they need someone with the right head about them, someone with the right experience, managing this project of theirs.
Theater 2, not so much. It’s being used as a “multimedia” theater, with a stage, directional lighting, and an overhead projector. Their plan is to use it for community functions and stage plays. Good idea, seems to function pretty well for that use. If they did nothing more with this theater, they’d be making a great decision.
Theaters 3 and 4 are the ones I’d call defaced, to similarly quote several others who have also seen the work. There are crude murals on the walls, with the former wooden beltline below the wall curtains having been raised to approximately 6' with what appears to be a florecent backlighting over the murals. Looks rushed, sloppy, and haphazard. Theater 3 has an American flag Uncle Sam theme that’s delightfully random and pointless, with theater 4 sporting a similar tangent. Clean what was there, replace the seats, and that should have been it. Money would have been better spent restoring to something relevant and worthy of this historic structure rather than the current byproduct, something better suited for the walls of an elementary school.
The lobby is an abortion, an even bigger shame. Whoever is in charge of this thing hasn’t a clue what they’re doing and should really concentrate their efforts elsewhere. The THSA needs to step in somewhere.
By the time they’re done there won’t be anything left to landmark.
I am extremely disappointed with what has been done to the theater.
The new seats are great, however, theaters 2-4 have been defaced, there’s no other way to put it. The classic look and feel of the former facade, however dirty and in need of cleaning, have instead been degraded with “murals” that are loud, shoddy, and irrelevant. If money to repair and improve the theater is in short supply, why was it spent on things like this?
The work being done in the lobby is unspeakable. It’s so… yellow. 80s track lighting, concrete painted over, painted plywood, wiremolding…
Does Hortons have a business plan? Their most recent meeting with the LaGrange Board says… NO. They really need to hire someone who specializes in rehabbing and restoring old theater structures. Until then, there’s a lot of money being wasted, and what little history is left behind, destroyed. Someone needs to step up and set things straight.
…they need to step in to offer their guidance and assistance. The Hortons people are clearly in over their heads, they can’t even form a long-term business plan with which to obtain additional funding from the village of LaGrange for continued restoration. Come to think of it, considering what’s been done, maybe that’s a good thing.
My point is, they need someone with the right head about them, someone with the right experience, managing this project of theirs.
It IS distressing.
Theater 2, not so much. It’s being used as a “multimedia” theater, with a stage, directional lighting, and an overhead projector. Their plan is to use it for community functions and stage plays. Good idea, seems to function pretty well for that use. If they did nothing more with this theater, they’d be making a great decision.
Theaters 3 and 4 are the ones I’d call defaced, to similarly quote several others who have also seen the work. There are crude murals on the walls, with the former wooden beltline below the wall curtains having been raised to approximately 6' with what appears to be a florecent backlighting over the murals. Looks rushed, sloppy, and haphazard. Theater 3 has an American flag Uncle Sam theme that’s delightfully random and pointless, with theater 4 sporting a similar tangent. Clean what was there, replace the seats, and that should have been it. Money would have been better spent restoring to something relevant and worthy of this historic structure rather than the current byproduct, something better suited for the walls of an elementary school.
The lobby is an abortion, an even bigger shame. Whoever is in charge of this thing hasn’t a clue what they’re doing and should really concentrate their efforts elsewhere. The THSA needs to step in somewhere.
By the time they’re done there won’t be anything left to landmark.
I am extremely disappointed with what has been done to the theater.
The new seats are great, however, theaters 2-4 have been defaced, there’s no other way to put it. The classic look and feel of the former facade, however dirty and in need of cleaning, have instead been degraded with “murals” that are loud, shoddy, and irrelevant. If money to repair and improve the theater is in short supply, why was it spent on things like this?
The work being done in the lobby is unspeakable. It’s so… yellow. 80s track lighting, concrete painted over, painted plywood, wiremolding…
Does Hortons have a business plan? Their most recent meeting with the LaGrange Board says… NO. They really need to hire someone who specializes in rehabbing and restoring old theater structures. Until then, there’s a lot of money being wasted, and what little history is left behind, destroyed. Someone needs to step up and set things straight.