Email: "You can ‘seat yourself’ at the Wieting"
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TOLEDO CHRONICLE - “They’re selling like hotcakes,” Jim Roan, told a pancake breakfast fundraiser crowd recently. But Roan wasn’t talking menu- he was reporting a total of 30 theatre seats had already been sold in the first two weeks of this portion of the Wieting Theatre renovation campaign.

As part of the $1.2 million plan to bring the historic building up to 21st century standards and preserve it for a second 100 years, new seats at an estimated cost of $111,000 are needed. Roan is chair of the Wieting Building Committee.

He says you can “buy” your own seat with a contribution $375. Although this won’t guarantee the buyer a seat for actual events, a plaque with the name of donors will be placed in the theatre lobby, he said. The renovation committee is working with American Seating, Grand Rapids, Mich., which specializes in theatre seats. Cost of the new seating includes installation.

The floor plan scheme for the seating will remain the same, Roan said. Main floor as well as balcony seating will be retained. Roan said the architects and construction consultants for the project have assured the renovation committee the flooring is all in good condition with some repairs needed. Refinishing the wooden flooring is planned at an estimated cost of $12,282.

Update on $1.2 Million Goal

Roan reported last week more than $300,000 has been raised and the Wieting effort is in “pretty good shape” at this point. Alumni of the South Tama School District area have recently been contacted for pledges as part of the fundraising process.

To supplement private donations, businesses and industries are being asked to contribute. Katherine Ollendieck, Dysart, a professional grant writer has been retained to prepare grant applications for the Wieting. She aided in the successful 2005-06 Toledo Library expansion fundraising.

Tama County was named an Iowa Great Place in October with the Wieting renovation one of five projects included in the application process.

The fundraising part of the work is slated to wrap on on Sept. 1, 2010, Roan said. It is planned to close the theatre during the winter of 2010-11 for actual work with completion in the fall of 2011. Rededication of the Wieting is planned for 2012, the 100th anniversary of its construction.

The Wieting Theatre Opera House was a gift to the citizens of Toledo from Ella Wieting. Her husband, Philip G. Wieting was an early dentist, abstractor and banker here. Similar theatres were also donated by Wieting to the citizens of Worchester and Syracuse, New York.

Operated entirely by community volunteers since 1960, the Wieting shows movies each weekend and is a live entertainment venue for the area.

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