I imagine you’ve been wondering what has been going on with the theater space at El Recreo. A lot, that’s what! There have been regular updates on our Facebook page but my last update here was back in May. At the top of the page you’ll see our new signage. Isn’t it gorgeous?

Before I get started maybe you want to look back to March. The picture below is the theater space.

The picture below is after a lot of painting was done. That was a huge job, all done by volunteers. The ceilings are something like 20 feet tall! Electrical lights were installed and the wiring upgraded and put in place for future air conditioning. Ceiling fans were installed.

The tiered seating is being installed below. The interior windows are closed with plywood and will be covered with fabric in the future. All wood is treated and all cut ends were dipped. These guys and others worked without air conditioning and really deserve medals!

The photo below is a little end-of-this-phase-of-the-work celebration. Thanks, guys!

Below you can see the finished platforms with carpeting. You might remember that we bought theater seating from Cineopolis when they closed down one of their local theaters. Here’s a picture of one of the seats.

The picture below shows the screen end of the room. We’ve painted that end charcoal and the screen we bought from Cineopolis has been cut to size and had grommets added. In this picture you see them installing the curtain made by another volunteer. This is the valance, there are two long curtains still to be installed on either side. Still no air conditioning in the space at this point.

Below is a group of volunteers eating lunch (and watching a bit of Fargo) while doing touch up painting, cleaning, installing the curtains, securing the speakers, and more. Can you see one of the mini-splits? We now have two 2 Ton units! See the red seats lying face down? Most of the seats had horrid dirty plastic on the backs that we painstakingly cut off with razor blades. The screen has been stretched and the edges are now concealed behind the curtains.

Here is a picture of a discussion about the wiring of the projector – dvd player – sound board. I didn’t catch it all but it sounds like we may need a booster thing for the dvd player since the wiring run is a long one. It’s always something! See the air conditioning power supply that has one coat of red paint? So many details, and all of them seem to require moving a ladder!

This is my last picture of the day. The room is much improved, the seats are stacked and ready for the seat cleaner to come. After that’s done we’ll have to have a work party to clean the arms of the chairs (I think, maybe the seat cleaner will do them) and then at least several days installing the seats.

You’ll also notice the door on the right side of the picture. These antique doors were donated and have been painted and fitted for the space. They look great!

We are hoping to have some upcoming events in August so if you want to know what is going on please Like the Facebook page so you will get updates or add yourself to our mailing list on the website here. We still need donations, too… and would be most grateful if you’d either leave a message on the mailing list link above or donate through our PayPal link here.

I haven’t been naming all the amazing volunteers who have contributed to this project – but they will all be formally recognized when we finish up. If any of you are reading this, though, I hope you can hear me giving you a round of applause.