Rapids Theatre

Restoration Project
Fieldwork by Tammy Hoppe
Lifetime Member
of This Community

Theatre Balcony
A stunning view of the
first level stage from
the second level
balcony shows were
dinner guests once sat
at tables eating their
meals.

The mission of the Rapids

Theatre board of directors is
to restore this historic relic
of architecture to be used as
an event center, with this
part of the theatre being
completed first so the
building can be opened for
event rental, generating
more income to help
supplement the top (third)
level renovations budget.

Projector in
Projector Room
The entire projector is
still assembled in the
projector room
propped up at the back
of the second level
balcony.

The Rapids Theatre

restoration project is dear
to me because of my
communitys as well as my
own personal history with
the building. Throughout
my life I have experienced
this location as a cinema,
interior design store, fabric
and quilting outlet, dinner
theatre, restaurant, and
abandoned treasure.

Stairs Detail
These stairs lead to
the second level
theatre balcony. This
is one of several
staircases joining the
upper and lower
levels of the Rapids
Theatre.

The Rapids Theatre has been a

notable part of this community
for almost 100 yearsthe
building was erected in 1916.
Besides having housed diverse
businesses, this location has
welcomed celebrities such as
Lawrence Welk and his
orchestra in the once glorious
third level ballroom (J. Telford,
personal communication,
November 1, 2014).

Restored Balcony
A view of the newly
revealed and restored
balcony now overlooks
the top of the Rapids
Theatre marquee.

The restoration of the

Rapids Theatre was begun
in 2011 thanks to the
foresight of Jackie Telford
and Matt Dengler, who first
realized this building is a
diamond in the rough and
then had the ambition to
pull it back to its original
days of glory.

Front Windows
These windows flank
the east side of the
newly revealed front
balcony and are the
first windows to have
been replaced and
restored in the Rapids
Theatre restoration
project.

These are the correct style

of windows on the front
(north) wall of the building,
but there was a conflict with
the windows ordered for
the west wall of the
building. The correct style
of window will be ordered
and installed this winter
(2015).

Plaster Lath Detail

The final remaining
section of one
hundred-year-old
plaster lath gets
removed before
interior walls can be
restored.

Although the exterior has

been fully restored to its
original theatre appearance,
the interior is still in
deconstruction. Interior
walls have been cleared of
plaster and lath or simply
removed altogether.

Skeleton of
Interior Walls
All plaster lath has
been removed from
the interior walls,
revealing outdated
electrical work and
other things in need
of repair.

With more recent not-tocode construction having

been removed, its obvious
that outdated electrical and
other interior work still has
to be brought up to
contemporary building code
regulations. Todays work
must specifically meet
requirements for National
Register of Historic Places.

Piles of Plaster and Lath

The ceiling of the
orchestra pit has been
removed from the floor
and hauled to the trash.

Clean-up after
deconstruction takes time
and lots of volunteer work.
We have had a lot of
volunteer laborlots of
volunteersbut we need
more than that; we need
money to keep going (D.
McCormack, personal
communication, November
22, 2014).

Third Floor Access

These beautiful stairs
lead guests to the third
level of the Rapids
Theatre building, which
is the ballroom.

Third floor access is

structurally sound, as is the
rest of the building, but will
be completed last in the
restoration project.

Ballroom Graffiti
Children of the previous
building owners painted
graffiti with their friends
in several places on the
historic ballroom walls.

Restoration of this third

level will encompass the
majority of the budget.
Opening the first floor for
event and stage rental will
generate income to help
fund the ballroom
restorations.

Original Rapids
Theatre Row Chairs
The original Rapids
Theatre rows of chairs
have been set aside
until a later date when
they too can be
attended to.

Original seating will be

reinstalled where possible,
awakening local community
members memories of the
past and stirring the
imaginations of visiting
facility guests.

The Rafters and

Holes in the Floor
The rafters are in great
shape and will remain so
now that the exterior
roof has been restored.

The old wood floors are not

so lucky, though. Due to
decades of a leaky roof, the
wood floors are warped and
rotted. Much of the
flooring has to be replaced.

The Orchestra Pit

The orchestra sat up
above the dance floor
of the ballroom where
Lawrence Welk has
performed.

Reminding the community of

exciting local histories can be
beneficial in numerous ways:
Teach diverse cultures to
coexist peacefully
Promote understanding of
culture and heritage
Strengthen community
relationships
Grow outstanding learning
experiences found in your
home community
(Villeneuve, 2009)

Salvaged Original Doors

Many of the original
Rapids Theatre doors
were able to be salvaged
and will be restored in
due time.

As many original features

as possible have been
reclaimed and will be
restored and reused in the
Rapids Theatre restoration
project.

The Original Front

Rapids Theatre Doors
These original front
doors of the Rapids
Theatre have been
restored and reinstalled
at the hefty price of
$18,000.

Although the faade and front

entrance of the Rapids Theatre
appears finished to passers-by,
it currently functions more
accurately as a warm welcome
that invites patrons of the past
and dreamers of the future to
visit the memories of what
used to be and the visions of
what is yet to come with the
restoration of this segment of a
small towns big history.

Resources
Villeneuve, P. & Sheppard, D. (2009). Close to
home: Studying art and your community. Art
Education, 62(1), 6-13.

Rapids Theatre Faade

Chapter 2
Rapids Theatre Restoration Project:
A Case Study

Rapids Theatre Restoration Project: A Case Study

Tammy Hoppe
University of Florida

Table of Contents
Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Supporting Literature. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5
Overview. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8
Description and Discussion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Implication for Art Education. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17

Rapids Theatre Restoration Project:

A Case Study
I chose to do my fieldwork at the Rapids
Theatre, which is now in the process of being
restored to the beautiful historic piece of
architecture it once was. The faade of the
Rapids Theatre (Figure 1) appears finished to
passers-by, but the cold, naked skeletal
structure exposed in the buildings interior is
far, far from finished.
Jackie Telford and Matt Dengler had the
foresight three years ago to conceive of and
then coordinate the renovation of Rapids
Theater, a small town relic of a building with
quite a history (J. Telford, personal
communication, November 1, 2014). I still
remember going to movies in this very theatre
when I was a child.

Figure 1. Rapids Theatre ticket booth and front

doors. This image shows the fully restored
main entry of Rapids Theatre.

Over the years I have seen this building

serve several different functions. Now I have
been doing my fieldwork assignment here,
giving myself the opportunity to leave my
own mark on this historic piece of
architecture. The progress of this buildings
restoration can be followed at
https://www.facebook.com/pages/RapidsTheatre/205426966201220, where, upon
project completion, a calendar of dinner
theatre performances and pictures of theatre
events will be posted for the dedicated
friends and patrons of the Rapids Theatre to
follow.
Supporting Literature

The inspiration for my work on this field

study began with information from
Villeneuve and Sheppards (2009) article,

Close to Home: Studying Art and Your

Community. This article explains that art
education with a community-based approach
gives art educators a local emphasis to use
when introducing and expanding curriculum.
The benefit of this approach is that students
as well as teachers get a new opportunity to
notice the treasures that lie close to home
but may be taken for granted or
misunderstood (Villeneuve, 2009). Rapids
Theatre is one of our little hometown
treasures that had been forgotten but is now
being brought back to life through extensive
renovation. Villeneuves (2009) article
reminds readers that the study of
community-based art education (CBAE), such
as this local architectural restoration project,
can teach that (a) different cultures can
coexist peacefully; (b) community-based art
projects promote better understanding of
5

personal culture and heritage; (c) collective

contributions and collaborative work
strengthen community relationships; (d)
many outstanding learning experiences can
be found in your home community. All four
of these points hold value to me in my
educational philosophy and thus affect my
choice of curriculum and teaching
methodology.
Stakes (1994) work, Case Studies, is
another inspiration in my field research.
First, his content gave me a foundation for
understanding what a case study is and does.
My own case study is the study of an
architectural treasure and its renovations
that hold both the potential to quality for the
National Register of Historic Places as well as
the ability to be used as a beautiful, fully
functioning event center, theatre, and
cinema. According to Stakes (1994) list of

three types of case studies, the Rapids

Theatre project is an intrinsic case study
because, in all its particularity and
ordinariness, this case itself is of interest
(p.237). It is not intended to be an
instrumental case study that has a place in
understanding some other case study, nor is
it a collective case study that is intended to
help with understanding the meaning of a
whole group of case studies (Stake, 1994).
Second, Stakes content also guided me in
the nature of information I should be looking
for. Stake (1994) offers a well-rounded list of
especially helpful research content topics:
the nature of the case;
its historical background;
the physical setting;
other contexts, including economic,
political, legal, and aesthetic;
other cases through which this case is
6

reorganized;
those informants through whom the case
can be known (p. 238).
Finally, Stakes (1994) content truly
enlightened me to the value of triangulation
as a method of seeking multiple perceptions
in order to verify consistency in data.
Because of this new learning I purposefully
and consistently interviewed four different
stakeholders in the Rapids Theatre
restoration project.
My final inspiration in my own field study
project is King-Ratcliffes (2014) capstone
project. King-Ratcliffe interviewed three
teaching artists in the CBAE sector and shared
her findings in such an eloquent and
comfortably readable manner. Her data
gathering process was the interview, which
yielded an entertaining narrative report
format. I intend to use King-Ratcliffes

writing style as inspiration for my own

reporting of interview data in my case study
research project. Additional inspiration in
my qualitative method of interview data
collection comes from Ribbins (2007) and his
thoughts on what makes quality interview
questions as well as on the different forms an
interview can take. Ribbins (1994) most
beneficial suggestions for my own research
project include, first, asking questions that
encourage interviewees to reveal what is on
their minds without suggesting desired
answers and, second, knowing that there are
different ways of interviewing such as chats,
discussions, interviews, and verbal
questionnaires. This new knowledge
enabled me to explore three different
interview data collection strategies: chat,
discussion, and verbal questionnaire. The
data collected through these methods was
7

very interesting and consistent among

participants.
Overview
The mission of the Rapids Theatre project
is to restore this historic relic of architecture
to the beautiful theatre, cinema, and
ballroom it once used to be. The goal of the
projects board of directors is for this building
to be used as an event center, with the first
floor seating and stage as well as the second
level balcony (Figure 2) to be completed first
so the building can be opened for event
rental, generating more income to help
supplement the third floor renovations
budget. Jackie Telford and Matt Dengler are
the founders of the project and started their
advocacy work in 2011. The current Rapids

Figure 2. Rapids Theatre Stage from Second

Floor Balcony. The balcony lines the west,
north, and east walls and was once housed
seating for dinner guests.

Theater board of directors includes Jackie

Telford (co-founder and president), Matt
Dengler (co-founder and vice-president),
Norma Jansma (treasurer), Dorothy
McCormack, Julie Tolvstad, Shane Meyer, and
Pete Pettingill. The board has largely been
coordinating legal business with an
architecture firm in Des Moines that is in
charge of designing period-accurate
architectural detail and also getting the legal
paperwork completed for the National
Register of Historic Places. They then
organize the hands-on work of local
volunteers based on their information from
the architecture firm. On the third Thursday
of each month they hold meetings to
coordinate communication and keep progress
moving along.

Once the Rapids Theatre restoration

project is completed, the building will be
available to rent for events such as
receptions, dinner theatre plays, reunions,
etc. There will be no kitchen but there will
be a food preparation area for caterers or
renters to use. The first floor is the stage
level and the second floor is the theatre
balcony, projector room, and small
apartment with balcony. These two levels
will be restored first, probably by the end of
summer 2015. The final level to be restored
is the third floor, or the ballroom, which will
also be available to rent either separately or
in conjunction with the theatre and balcony
levels. The long-term plan is that the bottom
two floors of the building can soon be rented
out, generating an income to supplement a
portion of the third floor restoration budget.

To date, all of the project funding has

come from donations, Forster Charitable
Trust funds, and Lyon County Riverboat
Foundation (LCRF) grants (J. Telford, personal
communication, November 8, 2014).
Donations have come from several locals as
well as friends and family of locals or at least
fans and patrons of theatre arts in general.
The Forster Charitable Trust funds are a local
private granting and funding entity in the
name of a prominent family of this
communitys history. The Grand Falls Casino
in the same county sponsors the generous
LCRF granting and donations program.
Future restoration budget money will come
from these same resources but they provide
timely and somewhat limited funds
compared to the overall budgetary needs of
the restoration project. With the projected
sum budget being two to three million

dollars, a rigorous fundraising plan is of dire

need. Therefore, to attain the goal of
completing the entire restoration by 2017,
the Rapids Theatre board of directors is
collaborating on other more notable income
ideas, one being a matching funds challenge
in which the local banks and other
businesses are challenged to match donation
amounts with those of the general public. I
will be helping with this endeavor by putting
together more research and documentation
as well as presenting preliminary ideas for
educational materials such as fliers and
pamphlets.

10

Description and Discussion

I still remember going to movies in this
very theatre when I was a child. I especially
remember three different movie-going
adventures: one with my whole family
waiting in the freezing cold to get tickets to
see a Christmas movie, another with my
group of best friends all cuddling closely
during the saddest parts of Windwalker
(1981), and a third one with my little sister
and brand new foster sister when I saw a boy
and girl kissing for the first time.
The project participants I interviewed
shared stories similar to these about their
own memories of the theatre. They
appeared equally as passionate about their
vivid recollections of Rapids Theatre as they
did about their commitment to achieving the
restoration goals. Signs of these high levels

of commitment can easily been seen in the

volunteers presence and hands-on work
many Saturday mornings throughout the
summer and fall months. Some Saturdays
are workdays on which they clean, move,
deconstruct, touch up, mark, observe, or
discuss some of the necessary tasks.
Completed tasks to date (November, 2014)
include removing all doors from doorways
and moving them to the basement to be
stored until it is their turn to be repaired and
restored, removing walls and other
construction additions that are not
historically accurate, pulling all plaster and
lath from remaining walls, and getting
outdated insulation out of the rafters all the
way up to the roof (R. Oliver, personal
communication, November 15, 2014). Also
completed is the roof, renovation of the
balcony level and marquee, replacement of
11

the south windows, and restoration of the

original front theatre doors and exterior
faade. Telford clarifies that the cost of
getting the work this far along is $201,000
and that the big expenses are coming next
(personal communication, November 8,
2014).
Projected project tasks include an elevator
that will go all the way to the third floor,
redoing or replacing all interior surfaces, new
electrical and other specialty work inside the
walls, and huge double hung windows for the
west wall. We need an elevator and thats
going to cost big money: big money (R.
Oliver, personal communication, November
22, 2014). An elevator has to be put in
somewhere but we cant put it where we
wanted to because of all the citys wires in
the ground, and it would cost way too much
to move all those wires. We just need to

think of another way (N. Jansma, personal

communication, November 22, 2014). The
elevator discussion has already revealed one
of the larger project expenses, and
troubleshooting possible solutions is
ongoing.
In addition to preparing the stage for
dinner theatre performances and the floors
for dining tables and chairs, the project
board of directors is planning to make
showing movies a possibility once again. The
necessary equipment to show movies in the
theatre will cost $70,000 (R. Oliver,
personal communication, November 22,
2014). The original film projector still sits in
the projector booth at the back of the
second floor balcony level appearing anxious
to run its next reel of film (Figure 3).
Although this machine is historically valuable,
it is no longer necessary and will
12

not be restored as part of this overall project.

Over the years I have seen this building
take on several different functions. After first
remembering it as a theatre, I recall when it
was used as an interior design and window
treatment store. Next, it was a fabric,
quilting, notions, and sewing machines store.
After that it was converted into a ritzy
restaurant and lounge (The Intermission) that
opened and closed three different times over
the years. Today the building is in the process
of returning to its original appeal. The
project continues to move along slowly
although consistently. As funding becomes
available and proper architectural
information gets approved and passed on to
contractors, stages of restoration take place
with the help of numerous volunteers. New
windows will be installed this winter on the
west wall and then first floor and balcony

Figure 3. Original Rapids Theatre Film

Projector. The projector still sits in the
projector room and all of the machines parts
are still assembled.

13

restorations will take place during the

summer of 2015. By the fall of 2015 Rapids
Theatre may be ready for event rental,
generating its own income to assist with the
budget for top floor renovations that will be
taking place last. With consistency in
volunteer help and improvements in funding
income, this entire restoration project could
be completed as early as 2017. Although it
would be wonderful to have the building
ready sooner, everything in the process
appears strong and effective because of its
consistency in progress, support, and
leadership. The board of directors is doing all
it can do to keep each step of the restoration
process moving along in an acceptable legal
and affordable manner. To add my own
element of support, I will design potential
printed, digital, and online educational
materials and I will continue my research and

documentation of the Rapids Theatre

restoration project.
Implications for the Field of Art Education
As an art educator with a growing
involvement in and commitment to the
restoration of Rapids Theatre, I see
tremendous benefits in the field of art
education with studying and helping out in a
project such as this. As Villeneuve (2009)
warned, stronger community connections
and awareness of local culture and heritage
are greatly heightened in this type of work.
Additionally, the intrinsic rewards that
accompany the collaborative work of
collective assistance are extremely gratifying.
These are learning experiences visual arts
teachers can provide children in a school arts
education program simply by including a
14

study of an architecturally interesting or

historically relevant building right in the
schools home community. Otherwise, a
community-based art education program can
either work on or in such an interesting
alternative site for art education. Even if
students do not take up a hands-on role, they
can still develop a personal interest in or
commitment to local history and culture
through the study of community architecture.
My personal connection to the Rapids
Theatre restoration project at the beginning
of my study definitely influenced my potential
for a greater level of growth and high quality
learning. Students might not be able to begin
a similar study with the heartfelt relevance I
had because they likely would not have the
fond memories upon which to build new
learning. To overcome

the learning advantage I had with my already

developed personal connection to the
structure, an art educator should begin the
study of a local architectural celebrity with
careful consideration of how to get students
to draw personal connections to the project.
The art educator would have to design
alternative methods for generating student
interest and commitment through avenues
such as historical and cultural connections,
mathematical challenges, scientific
mysteries, architectural and design elements,
or storytelling possibilities.
Further studies of this theory could be
done right in the art classroom or even at
locations within walking distance of the art
classroom. Studies could also be conducted
in conjunction with homeroom teachers
learning activities such as fieldtrips or
explorative excursions. The key questions
15

in such research might be what elements of

a site-based learning activity draw the
greatest levels of student interest in and
commitment to new learning? and how can
new site-based learning activities be designed
so that these same draws of interest and
commitment are present each time? I feel
these are questions teachers are already
asking themselves regularly, but a conscious
study of such information would greatly
inform and strengthen an art educators
curriculum planning and teaching methods.

16

References
King-Ratcliffe, M. (2014), A study of three teaching artists working within a community-based
arts education setting.
Ribbins, P. (2007). Interviews in education research: Conversations with purpose. In A. Briggs &
M. Coleman (Eds.), Research methods in educational leadership and management
(pp. 207-223). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.
Stake, R. (1994). Case studies. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative
research (pp. 236-247). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.

Thomas, E. B. (Producer), & Merrill, K. (Director). (1980). Windwalker [Motion picture]. United
States: Santa Fe International.
Villeneuve, P. & Sheppard, D. (2009). Close to home: Studying art and your community. Art
Education, 62(1), 6-13.

17