Richey Suncoast Theatre is wrapping up repairs and additions to its main auditorium.
By BARBARA L. FREDRICKSEN
Published August 27, 2004
NEW PORT RICHEY - Just in time for the start of the 2004-05 theater season, Richey Suncoast Theatre is finishing more than $45,000 worth of repairs and additions to its main auditorium.
The improvements are costing the theater itself just more than $19,000, however, thanks to a city of New Port Richey grant worth nearly $15,000 and the donation of about $11,000 worth of professional engineer, contractor and sound specialist expertise and labor, said Charlie Skelton, president of the theater's board of directors.
The major improvements include two catty-corner sub-balconies above the downstairs auditorium seats and an electrically operated, motorized pole and pulley to raise and lower painted backdrops on the theater's stage.
"The sub-balconies have tables for our new soundboards and light boards," said Skelton, who helped plan and supervise the projects. In the past, technicians operated those boards from the former movie theater's projection booth high above the balcony. The new areas will allow the technicians to be closer to the stage and get better sound balance and lighting hues and angles.
Each triangular sub-balcony is about 20 feet wide and 8 feet deep. One end is bolted to a steel plate that is, in turn, bolted to the concrete and brick side walls of the theater. The other ends are bolted to the main wooden beams on the front of the main balcony. Underneath, builders have reinforced the balconies' sub-structures with more wooden beams bolted to the walls.
"Each one will hold up nine people and the equipment," Skelton said. In actual usage, though, there will be only one or two people in each work area to operate lights and sound.
The motorized scene lift was put in because the theater's tiny wing space was too crowded to allow a worker to lift and lower the heavy backdrops without bumping into the stage manager at the adjacent desk, Skelton said.
"We couldn't have done this without Kent (Russ), Chaz Bender and the engineer, Bruce Frey," Skelton said. Russ owns Building Concepts Inc. and built the balconies at his cost, Skelton said. Bender is a sound system expert who volunteers his time and labor to the theater. Frey designed the additions "with a substantial price break for us," Skelton said.
The city's contributions came through the Community Redevelopment Agency's Tax Increment Funds and didn't increase city tax rates, said Jerry Paradise, assistant city manager.
TIF money comes from taxes paid on increased values in the designated community redevelopment area that includes the theater, not ordinary revenues, Paradise said. The theater's sub-balconies and new backdrop mechanism are only the latest in an ongoing refurbishment of the theater.
Last year, the entire exterior of the theater was painted soft cream and dark brown with the help of a $5,000 city redevelopment grant. Two years ago, the theater covered the long-neglected dome atop the structure in an aluminum-based metal that looks like gold leaf.
In 2000, the theater installed a new sound system, and Florida Power donated a large crystal chandelier for the foyer. Along the way, the theater put up a new sign outside, installed an art deco-style neon sign over the ticket booth, built a secure backstage "cage" to house paint, saws and other items, and replaced the splintered plywood coverings on the outside balcony doors with heavy paneled wooden doors.
Perhaps most significant, the theater paid off its $200,000 mortgage in February, a full five years ahead of schedule.
On tap for the near future are a new main curtain and new paint throughout the theater, Skelton said.
"We want to keep improving this theater from now on," he said.
