Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, April 28, 1995 TAG: 9504280033
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: STEPHEN FOSTER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Long
- It's dirty inside the Lyric.
In the foyer, a carpet cleaner is being rigged up. The popcorn machine has been taken away to be stripped and repainted. Upstairs in the projector room, an old-fashioned projector stands alongside a somewhat newer version. Pieces of film lie about; one shows frames of actor Kevin Bacon in some flick.
For almost a year now, the Lyric Council, a group of about 30 citizens interested in reviving the 65-year-old College Avenue theater, has been meeting, trying to work out a way to restore the movie house to its former prestige and place in Blacksburg's downtown.
In the theater, pieces of duct tape cover holes in the yellow-upholstered, stained seats. One of the prized discoveries of the cleanup crew - the tapestries on each wall that were covered for years by curtains - need shampooing as much as the foyer carpet. There are broken chunks of brick on the walls on each side of a stage.
A cloud of dust hangs in the air.
Magic dust, perhaps?
Perhaps. But there's no magic happening here tonight. Just hard work.
Hard work to clean up the theater for its first show in years. Hard work that many hope is just a prelude to the greater task of renovating the theater completely.
Saturday, the Lyric will open again. Not for movies, mind you, but music. Eight bands will play from 2:30 to 9:30 p.m. Popcorn, cokes and Lyric T-shirts will be on sale. Photographs, drawings and information will be on display. Cost of admission: $2 for adults, 50 cents for children 12 and under.
The Lyric Council has signed a lease with the theater's owners, Blacksburg Realty Property Partnership, made up of several Blacksburg-area and Roanoke business people. That lease, which keeps the theater from being marketed, expires in June, although the council has an option to extend it another three months. Lyric Council Chairwoman Lindsay West says it shows that all involved want to see the theater restored.
Bill Deemer, one of the Blacksburg Realty owners, said the two sides haven't yet begun talking about long-term agreements on how to operate the theater, although the owners are just waiting for the council to come up with a solid plan for its future.
"Everything's going fine," he said. "There's no disagreements on anything. We're going through trial periods. Hopefully we'll get to the point" where serious negotiations can begin.
If the owners and the restorers can come to an agreement, West vows that much more than just tidying up the place will be done. Michael Hedgepeth, a local architect and son of the mayor, has estimated it could cost a half million dollars to rebuild the inside so that live shows as well as movies can be shown. That's just a guess, though.
The point is it won't be cheap, and West admits that there's no way the council - which is seeking nonprofit status - can begin raising significant amounts of money until it has an agreement and plan in hand.
Still, there's no pessimism now. If the council can raise the money, it won't open the theater "just cleaned up," but will completely renovate it, West says. "It's going to be something. It's going to be an experience."
This week, though, "cleanup" is the name of the game. People from all walks of Blacksburg life have turned out to assist.
Doug Chancey says he's a starving actor; he'd thought about renovating the theater years ago and says his dream would be to put on a Shakespearean production there. He moved to San Francisco for several years then returned to Blacksburg last year "just as everything started to crank up."
"It's a great feeling," he said, then went to work laying plywood over the spot that used to be the orchestra pit.
John Dudley, a sophomore at Virginia Tech, wielded a broom and vacuum trying to remove the dust that covers the aisles, the seats and most everything else inside the theater.
Unlike many of the supporters of the council's efforts who have lived in town for years and remember the Lyric in its heyday, Dudley represents the younger population that will undoubtedly have to contribute to the Lyric's well-being if it is to succeed.
He read about the cleanup efforts in the town newsletter, heard about it on the radio, and figured he'd come out to help.
"This is the first time that I've been in here," he says.
Though someone comments that he likes the sparkling foyer ceiling, local businessman and volunteer John Kline says immediately, "The ceiling's got to go. That's not original."
Kline, who runs a local photography studio, has shot hundreds of photographs of the theater's interior, many of which he showed to Town Council at a recent meeting updating town government on the Lyric Council's progress.
"We're having so much fun doing this without any money, we're going to see if we can't do the whole thing," he says with a wink.
Kline said the council hopes to raise up to $10,000 from this weekend's events and sales of T-shirts - "seed money" to pay an architect to come up with a master plan, or re-do the seats, or whatever. "There's just a lot of things we need just to get started.
"Everybody's working on different things."
For more information, contact Lindsay West at 552-2023, or Richard Loveland at 953-3479.
by CNB