Arcadia Project renovations moving along thanks to volunteer work and fundraising
STAUNTON — The door to the old Dixie Theater is propped open not to let in too much cold air. It's a freezing Wednesday morning and inside, there's no heat.
The fabric from the walls of the former theater have been ripped away, the floor tiles have been removed, both showcasing the inner bones of the place and the reverberation of the past. Large blocked lines flow through the two theater spaces and loop around, giving it that art deco look.
Thomas and Pamela Wagner stand in what will be the concessions area and lobby, but right now their voices carry to the backs of the theaters and their eyes light up with the vision of the future.
Formerly the Staunton Performing Arts Center, the group was taken over by the Arcadia Project in 2017. The Wagners started poking around the community about the potential of the project in 2016. They want to bring an all-inclusive community cultural center featuring a theater, events, media studios, class and more.
The Dixie Theater closed in 2014, and the Staunton Performing Arts Center had been attempting to renovate and revive the space since the early 2000s.
The nonprofit bought the former Dixie building on East Beverley Street, which included the Arcadia building directly next to it, in 2019.
The Arcadia Project board and volunteers intend to transform the two adjacent historic buildings — the former Dixie Theatre and the Arcadia building. The buildings will feature theaters, event spaces, media studios, classes, workshops, cultural programs and more.
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The redevelopment will create four spaces:
a movie theater/lecture hall
an event space that will host conferences and live performances
two digital media classrooms
a small specialty food café
COVID actually helped the project along, they said. They were able to clear out the space and prepare it for remediation.
They had mold and asbestos removal. Mold was in the fabric that was attached to the walls, floor tiles had asbestos and carpet had mold. Entombment of some asbestos will happen as well.
They also removed three tons of metal from the old HVAC system in the back of the building — a feat that took a large crane. They replaced the rear roof on the old theater.
Phase one is almost complete, they said. Other big renovation items included exterior paint work done entirely by volunteers, the removal of all the chairs from the theaters, and work on fixtures and debris in and outside the building.
According to the Wagners, they removed 14,000 pounds of chairs.
Hopefully, by week's end, the marquee will be up and running. The Arcadia Project partnered with the Staunton Makerspace for the project, which will be rewired and modernized with LED lighting.
"The solution to the marquee is sort of emblematic of the whole project, which is historic charm with a modern twist," Pamela said. "So we're coming up with 21st century solutions to bring back an early 20th century building."
Now the Wagners and volunteers are ready to share the space with the public. Saturday, Nov. 6, they are inviting the public to come tour the theater and see the progress that has happened in the past two years. The event starts at 2 p.m.
Since 2019, the group has received $230,000 in grants and donations, which has enabled them to come close to finishing the first phase of the project. Since that time, 70 volunteers have donated 1,560 hours of labor. Four major building projects have been done.
The next phase will create the lobby and concession area, along with a restroom and office renovations. The third phase will be classrooms and event space in the back of the building.
"The spirit of this project is really a gift to the next generation, because Stanton's future is going to be those remote workers who are moving here in droves and can live anywhere," Pamela said. "We want them to choose us and we need to have stuff for them to do at night. So our goal is to really put programming in these spaces that appeals to underserved audiences and young people and be open at night so that you know we can create a lively street presence here in Staunton."
Grants and monies
In 2021, The Arcadia Project used a $50,000 grant to help with asbestos remediation from materials and demolition after the city was awarded a Virginia Brownfields Assistance Funds grant.
The grant required a local dollar-for-dollar match, and the Arcadia Project exceeded the match by nearly two-to-one, providing a match in the amount of $95,000.
The redevelopment will create four spaces:
a movie theater/lecture hall
an event space that will host conferences and live performances
two digital media classrooms
a small specialty food café
In 2019, the project was awarded $25,000 thanks to a Virginia Main Street Feasibility Study grant. That grant is funded by the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development and administered by the Staunton Downtown Development Association, a release said.
The grant money paid for the following:
A market study conducted by the Richmond firm Summit Design & Engineering Services
A structural engineering report by the local firm Schnitzhofer and Associates
An architectural services by local architect Marc Paxton
Research about the viability of an Industrial Revitalization Fund application to be conducted by Michael Barnes of Charlottesville
Before the Wagners could move forward with the project two years ago, $349,000 was still owed to Union Bank (now Atlantic Union Bank) for the building. The bank forgave $279,000 of the debt and the nonprofit raised $70,000. That money was raised by 38 members of the community with donations ranging between $50 to $10,000 a person.
To learn more visit thearcadiaproject.org.
Laura Peters is the trending topics reporter at The News Leader. Have a news tip on local trends or businesses? Or a good feature? You can reach reporter Laura Peters (she/her) at lpeters@newsleader.com. Follow her @peterslaura. Subscribe to The News Leader at newsleader.com.
This article originally appeared on Staunton News Leader: Arcadia Project in Staunton finishing first phase in bringing theater back to life
