Help ahead for 102-year-old Akron opera house

This historical photo of Akron's 1906 opera house shows the building as it appeared in the early 20th century. The billboard in front of the building advertises a play called "The Lunatic." Plans are underway to renovate the building to its former appearance, and an executive director has been hired to schedule more events and entertainment in the theater. [Click to enlarge]

Akron's opera house has weathered many changes since it opened in 1906. Now another phase is planned for the building that towers over the town's main street.

"My head spun for two weeks just thinking about this," Akron Community Theater President Doug Olson said Monday evening while discussing upcoming plans for the theater.

Olson and Akron Mayor Harold Higman Jr. formally announced to a crowd of about 80 people in front of the building that the theater has hired a part-time executive director to oversee renovating the theater building to its 1906 splendor.

Mark Cline, a Marcus native who now lives in Sioux Falls, will work to acquire funding for the project and oversee the restoration work on the building.

Cline said the theater's vision is to restore the tradition of the century opera house experience in Akron and bring in quality, professional and exclusive live performances to the region.

The American Life Insurance Company of Des Moines built the four-story theater for Akron with the assurance that area residents would reciprocate by purchasing insurance from the firm.

The theater is in the upper level of the building. The first floor was designed for retail use.

Medicine shows, school plays, Chautauqua, music, theater, dances and more were held in the theater. Then the Great Depression came and the theater's doors closed. It would remain that way for more than 30 years.

New interest in the abandoned theater was sparked in 1969 when the high school drama club was looking for a space to produce plays. The industrious high school students, led by their English teacher and drama coach, the late Richard Jacobs, began the mammoth job of cleaning up decades of dirt and rodent droppings.

Community members joined the effort. Plymouth County supervisor Jim Henrich discussed the restoration during Monday's gathering. Henrich was a member of the Akron Jaycees and helped construct a stage from wood taken from the old Trinity Lutheran Church in Akron. He remembers what sounds like a scene from a horror movie.

"There were bats all over," Henrich said. "The saws were going, the hammers were pounding, and the bats were swinging and dipping everywhere you looked."

Eliminating the estimated 400 resident bats was one of the biggest challenges to restoring the theater. But the workers were determined and Akron's opera house reopened to the public in September 1970.

The Akron Community Theater offered a variety of performances for many years. The ACT board has been struggling lately, however, due to the difficulty of finding local directors and actors.

Akron area theater patrons have been generous in their support of the theater through the years, Olson said, but maintaining the building also has been a challenge. Olson said he doesn't have the time to devote to the theater that he did in past years. He feared the future of Akron's opera house and community theater was in jeopardy.

Then Mark Cline entered the scenario.

Olson said Cline is friends with one of the actors who appeared in "Guys and Dolls" at the opera house last spring. Cline attended that production and toured the theater afterwards. The historical building impressed him.

Cline, a musician and experienced grant writer, suggested the ACT board hire him as a consultant to inject new energy into the theater.

"The timing was just right because we need help," Olson stressed.

He and other board members pondered Cline's suggestion while talking to area officials. Plymouth County Economic Director Gary Tucker met with the board and told them that many grants are available to help restore historical buildings like the opera house.

Mayor Higman assured Olson that the town would support the project too. Higman hopes the renovated theater would draw visitors to the town.

"This is our chance to capitalize on a city treasure," he explained.

Cline has been busy contacting experts on historical renovation. One of the people who has agreed to join the effort is Edward W. Storm, an architect from FEH Associates Inc. in Sioux City who helped refurbish Sioux City's historic Orpheum Theater. Storm said Akron's theater building is a good candidate for renovation.

"For a lady 102 years old, she's pretty fit," Storm told the crowd gathered for Monday night's announcement.

Many towns boasted opera houses in the early 1900s, Storm said Akron's opera house was set apart from neighboring ones because of its European styling, which includes round windows along the top and unique brickwork.

There aren't many opera houses still standing in Iowa, Storm and Cline said. The Akron building needs some brick repair but is in overall good condition, Cline said.

"Unlike some other opera houses in the state, Akron's opera building was kept in use, so the structure has not been allowed to deteriorate beyond rehabilitation," he explained.

Other resources that have promised to assist with the project are: the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs and State Historical Society; the University of Iowa; Iowa State Architecture and Design professors, architects, and coordinators; and Cornelia Butler Flora, who is professor of Sociology and Agriculture and Life Sciences at Iowa State University and director of the North Central Regional Center for Rural Development.

"To catch the interest of some of these individuals bodes well for the success of the project," says Cline.

The New Horizons church presently occupies the first floor of the opera house. Cline hopes to use that space to establish a museum that would focus on opera houses and the history behind public live arts performances.

The project is expected to take three years. The first 18 months will be for planning and obtaining funds, Olson said. The second half will be the construction phase.

Volunteers will be needed for a myriad of tasks. A community meeting to further discuss the project will be held 7 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 10 in the First National Bank community room in Akron.