FeedsTheater fundraiser pursues worthy record
In the heart of downtown Wayne, there is a historic structure that once symbolized the stature of the community itself.
The old Palace Theater, now dubbed the Historic Wayne Theater, once drew people from miles around to take in a variety of shows and events.
Vacant for more than 20 years now, there has been a serious attempt to gather the money to bring it up to code and save it from demolition. The organizers of this effort, led by Don Nicholson, the capital fundraising chairman, face a September deadline.
Their task hasn’t been easy. Frustrating might be a better word.
Even so, they haven’t given up and their latest attempt to generate money and publicity might end up being the best received at all.
They’re trying to make history, in a way, by setting a record for the most single dollar bills ever collected in a fundraiser.
“It’s not an official Guinness record, but we’re trying to make it one,” said Nicholson.
It’s only been a week, but he said he’s seen a more positive response than from any of the other fundraising efforts—which have ranged from the weekly 6 p.m. Saturday night concerts to placing plastic piggy banks in area stores and restaurants to hosting a $100 a plate dinner fundraiser earlier this year.
They began the dollar bill effort last week and generated nearly $270 in two days.
They also took another, subtle step toward promoting the project by changing the marquee out front. It went from an ominous countdown to a more positive message: We can do it, but we need your help.
The ‘help’ is the source of frustration. It’s been there, but in limited amounts—particularly from Wayne residents. Nicholson has said a few members of the city council have attended some of the weekly fundraiser concerts and a scattering of other residents attending, too, but most of the support has come from outside the community.
It’s difficult to understand why when you consider some of the talk you hear around town, in taverns and restaurants and at an occasional city council meeting.
That talk centers around a concern for the city, for the lagging business district. Residents are quick to point out the vacant storefronts along Michigan Avenue. They yearn for a national chain—retailer, restaurant or otherwise—to come to town and spark an economic development.
Yet here, in the heart of the community, is a unique feature that could do all of that and more and residents seem unwilling to support it.
Restored according to Nicholson’s vision—as a regional arts center that would include new retail and restaurant space, house a variety of cultural groups and provide a regional draw for concerts and other events—the theater could be a catalyst for downtown Wayne like no other.
National corporations might be nice to have in a community, but we would rather see things that are uniquely Wayne, things you can’t find anywhere else. We’d rather see a thriving business community built up of characters, not conglomerates.
For that, though, the support of the community is needed. This new fundraising idea has merit because it’s not asking too much of anyone. You don’t have to shell out $10 for the concert—or $5 if you’re a senior citizen or student—or send in a few grand to be a major sponsor. If everyone in town would chip in, it would go a long way toward helping the volunteers at the theater beat their September deadline—when they have to have financing in place to bring the theater up to code or turn the property over to the city.
In this, a little bit will go a long way. It will help send a message out to the greater business community, too. We ask for some retailer to come in, take a chance and make a major investment to build something new in our town. That might be easier to accomplish if we all contributed a little bit to something that’s already here.
