Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, October 8, 1994 TAG: 9410100037
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-9 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: KENNETH SINGLETARY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
But they're quick to add there's still lots of work to be done.
Organizers are preparing to finalize a list of board members, and they're putting together committees that will oversee different tasks - ranging from programming to promotion and design - that will be part of reopening the 64-year-old theater.
Closed for three years, the theater could be a venue for second-run and art movies, plays, lectures and other events. Organizers see the Grandin in Roanoke and similar theaters in Charlottesville and Durham, N.C., as models.
The group has a new name, Lyric Council, Inc., and organizers are applying to be a nonprofit corporation, a process that could take several months.
Meanwhile, they will indentify core members for their committees, raise money - and try to find those missing tragedy and comedy gargoyle masks that once adorned the theater's facade. The gargoyles are rumored to be in Blacksburg somewhere, said Lindsay West.
A board meeting is set for Thursday, and committee members will get together Oct. 20 in the theater, which is now an election-time home to the Montgomery County Democratic Party.
Organizers, who include a mix of downtown merchants, Blacksburg and Virginia Tech officials, and citizens, have used $500,000 as a ballpark figure in estimating the cost of the renovations.
They hope nonprofit status will be a financial boon.
"It's a way for people to give money to the effort and get a tax deduction for it," West said.
Such status also will also mean the group will be eligible for grants and loans. West said such funding could come from historic preservation, small business and tourism sources.
Displays about the theater are open at Gentry Studios and in Cowgill Hall on Virginia Tech's campus.
Anyone interesting in helping or donating can write to the Lyric Council at P.O. Box 665, Blacksburg, Va. 24063.
by CNB