Asheboro's Next Act

Larry Davis Presents “Sunday at the Sunset”

noreply@blogger.com (RLC) — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 14:06:00 +0000

Local music legend Larry Davis will perform two concerts on Sunday, September 26 to benefit the Sunset Theatre Capital Campaign. The hour-long shows will be held in the theatre at 234 Sunset Avenue at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. Tickets are $10, and can be purchase in advance at the Asheboro Cultural & Recreation Office (241 Sunset Avenue) or at the door.

Davis typically performs in Asheboro only once each year, but volunteered to perform because he feels strongly about the need for Sunset Theatre to be transformed to a performing arts venue.

“There aren’t a lot of places to play in this town,” said Davis, who has performed around the country for over 30 years. “It’s a shame you can’t have someplace to play in your own county.”

Davis performs a wide range of music styles, including classical, jazz, flamenco, mariachi and bluegrass. His concert on the 26th will consist mainly of bluegrass. Judy Brown on upright bass and her husband Stan Brown on banjo will perform with Davis. Larry’s early exposure to bluegrass came from his father Glenn Davis. Larry got serious about music in college, and has spent decades performing across the county and perfecting his craft.

“I just hope people turn out and support the cause for this,” said Davis.

Armfield Foundation gives $500,000 to Sunset campaign

noreply@blogger.com (Ross) — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 22:49:00 +0000

ASHEBORO – The campaign to transform the Sunset Theatre into a first-class performing arts center is a giant step closer to its goal following receipt of a $500,000 gift from the Edward M. Armfield, Sr. Foundation.

The gift, payable over four years, is in the form of a challenge grant contingent upon campaign volunteers raising funds to match the grant dollar for dollar.

“We’re ecstatic with the receipt of this challenge gift,” said campaign co-chairman and former Mayor David Jarrell. “It came at just the right time in the effort”.

Bedford Cannon, president of the Foundation and an Asheboro native said, “The board immediately saw the value of the project to Asheboro’s future as well as the educational and cultural development of its young people. We were proud to be able to help”.

“With this grant, we can see now the light at the end of the tunnel for this fundraising effort,” said Bill Hoover, Campaign Co-chairman. “It’s just the impetus we need to get the job done,” added Hoover’s wife and co-chairman, Anne.

The gift is the largest private grant to a city-sponsored project in the city's history. Mayor David Smith, who along with JB Davis led the way in calling on the foundation said, “This is a great day for Asheboro. The Sunset Theatre is one of downtown's anchors, and as goes the Sunset, so goes downtown. It’s that important.”

The Sunset Theatre Capital Campaign -- “Asheboro's Next Act” -- is a community effort to raise $1.2 million to expand, renovate and remodel the theatre.

The city is partnering with the North Carolina Community Foundation’s Randolph County affiliate to receive tax-deductible donations. Questions about the project, can be directed to 336-626-1240 or info@sunsetcampaign.org.

Campaign announces personalized tile project

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 05:18:00 +0000

Help decorate the lobby of the renovated Sunset Theatre by designing a personalized ceramic tile. Simply download and print a purchase form, and mail the completed form and appropriate amount to the Campaign. You will then receive a voucher to decorate your personalize tile at your convenience at downtown Asheboro's Dish'n.

Each tile costs $50, and is a perfect way to commemorate a special event, a special person, or your support for the Sunset Theatre.

They worked at Sunset Theatre

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 20:50:00 +0000

from The Courier-Tribune

Chip Womick

Staff Writer

ASHEBORO — For decades, the Sunset Theatre was the place to see movies in Asheboro. The movie house, which opened on March 6, 1930, was also the place to work.

Where else could a guy or gal get paid to eat popcorn and watch movies?

Howard Lemonds, who worked at the theater for about four years while he was in high school, said he used to know how many times he’d seen “Gone with the Wind,” the silver screen classic that debuted in 1939. He figures he’s seen it hundreds of times.

Lemonds, who is 87, started out selling popcorn at the theater (he also worked some shifts at the Capitol down the street, another movie house owned by White Amusement Co.) when he was about 15 and a student at Fayetteville Street School, which stood where Carolina Bank and the Summit Apartments stand today.

Then he became an usher, which was tantamount to assistant manager, Lemonds said, helping people to their seats and then standing at the rear of the theater during the show, flashlight in hand, ready to assist any customer who needed it — say a woman with a crying baby. It was from that vantage point that Lemonds saw many movies.

“It was kind of a second home,” he said. “The theater was usually crowded, especially the Sunset, because that was the premier show in Asheboro.”

He recalls traveling around the county when he was “just a kid” in a Model A Ford pickup truck, helping sign painter Edgar Cheek when it was time to change billboards advertising new movies.

In the days when he sold popcorn, the popcorn machine was set up on the sidewalk in front of the theater. Not all customers were movie-goers.

“I’d tie up traffic downtown delivering popcorn to people in cars,” he said. “People just riding by would smell that nice aroma of the popcorn and stop and get two or three boxes.”

...

They remember Sunset Theatre

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 20:46:00 +0000

from The Courier-Tribune

Chip Womick

Staff Writer

A $1.2 million capital campaign is under way to transform the Sunset Theatre (and space in two buildings next to it) into a performing arts center. We asked readers to share memories of the downtown movie house, which opened in 1930. Here’s what they had to say: ...

My favorite memory of the Sunset Theatre happened the year 1957. My wife, Sue, was expecting our only child. The very first time she wore her maternity “top” in public we went to a movie at the Sunset.

I remember parking in front of Belks Department Store (across the street from the Sunset) and getting out of the car and holding her hand as we crossed Sunset Avenue. I was so proud of her and the new “top.” I don’t remember the name of the movie or where we sat but in my mind that will forever be a special time.

I applaud the ones doing all the work to restore our theater. A lot of you know that I am a former Marine and to me the Sunset Theatre is to downtown Asheboro what dress blues are to a Marine. “Semper Fi.” I love my hometown, Asheboro.

H. Carlton Cheek

Asheboro

P.S. Our baby was born a few months after this and her name happens to be Sherry.

...

READ MORE at Courier-Tribune.com

State official helps kick off Sunset Theatre campaign

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 20:55:00 +0000

from The Courier-Tribune

Chip Womick

Staff Writer

ASHEBORO — The state’s top cultural resources cheerleader will be on hand Monday to help launch a public effort to raise money to revitalize the top cultural resource in the city’s inventory — the Sunset Theatre.

Linda Carlisle, secretary of the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources, is scheduled to be the main speaker for the kickoff of a $1.2 million fund-raising campaign — called Asheboro’s Next Act — to refurbish the historic theater at 234 Sunset Ave. in downtown Asheboro. The event, which is open to the public, begins at 4 p.m.

The city purchased the 1930s-era movie house in 2005 and two buildings adjacent to it when they became available. The plan was to renovate and expand the theater to create a first-class performing arts center.

Former Asheboro mayor David Jarrell is co-chairing the capital campaign along with Bill and Ann Hoover.

“Everybody I’ve talked to,” Jarrell said, “is excited and enthusiastic and said, ‘Let’s move ahead.’”

Jarrell said anybody interested in preserving the old theater — or anyone who just wants to find out more about the plans — is welcomed to the kickoff. A reception, also open to the public, will be held at Circa Gallery at 150 Sunset Ave., following the program in the theater.

Carlisle was named cultural resources secretary — one of 10 Cabinet-level appointments — by N.C. Gov. Bev Perdue in January 2009. Born in Abingdon, Va., she and her parents moved to Greensboro when she was 2. She graduated from Randleman High School in 1968.

According to the website of the state’s department of cultural resources, Carlisle, a former corporate executive and entrepreneur, is “a persistent proponent of the arts as an economic development driver, downtown rejuvenator, and small-town catalyst.”

Those who attend the campaign kickoff will have the chance to see a video that tells a bit about the theater’s past, its place in the community, and a vision for its future.

Jarrell said before Carlisle talks about the role of the arts in a community, he will talk a little about fund-raising.

Planners hope to wrap up the drive by the end of May

The theater campaign will offer naming opportunities for pledges ranging from $500 (for a seat) to $250,000 (for a new building wing).

“We’ll proceed with soliciting pledges over three years,” he said. “If somebody wanted to give over four or five years, we wouldn’t fuss about it.” Members of the campaign steering committee have pledged about $100,000 so far, Jarrell said.

“That’s a good start,” he said. “I still think we really need to get the community behind it. No gift is too small. No gift is too large.”

A new dawn for the Sunset Theatre

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 20:27:00 +0000

from The Courier-Tribune

Chip Womick

Staff Writer

ASHEBORO — The public phase of a $1.2 million fund-raising campaign to transform the Sunset Theatre into a performing arts center kicks off in about a week.

The historic movie house is already a downtown entertainment hub, but it needs an upgrade. That’s what Phil Shore told members of the Asheboro Rotary Club when they held their regular Friday lunchtime meeting in the theater at 234 Sunset Ave.

On Thursday night, Shore noted, a screening of the film “Talladega Nights” continued the Thrifty Thursday movie series, when admission, popcorn and a soft drink costs just $5.

On Friday night, he said, the band Passin’ Thru would be taking to the stage as part of an ongoing music series — Friday Night Bluegrass — which typically attracts a crowd of 70-100.

Almost as soon as the last twang of music wound down, he said, members of RSVP Community Theatre would be converging upon the theater to start setting up for production of “The Dixie Swim Club,” which will be presented over the next two weekends.

Last year, he said, 19,000 people came to the Sunset Theatre for movies, concerts and plays and other events. There will be a wedding in the facility this fall.

“You have to have a place where this variety can happen,” said Shore, who is former executive director of the Randolph Arts Guild and a member of the steering committee for the theater capital campaign.

“It’s a community project to take care of this building,” he added. “I think if you look around you might say it looks pretty good already. But it’s an 80-year-old building. It needs modernizing.”

Among the needed modernizations, Shore said, are theatrical lighting, a better sound system and improved heating and air conditioning: “None of the things that need to be put in here are cheap,” he said.

The city bought the 1930s-era movie house in 2005 to preserve it and to one day renovate it. Subsequently, two adjacent buildings were purchased so there would be room for expansion. An initial renovation proposal put together by a Raleigh architectural firm utilized all three buildings and carried an estimated price tag of $4 million-$5 million.

City council members balked at the cost. An advisory committee was established to come up with ideas for creating a comfortable and functional facility on a more limited budget.

Asheboro architect Steve Cofer developed the current project plans. He said that the bulk of the money raised in the $1.2 million campaign will pay for things that people will not see — such as new plumbing, new wiring and a new heating and air-conditioning system: “It can’t be seen, it can’t be heard, but it’s going to make it comfortable,” he said.

Making the stage handicap-accessible will not be readily apparent to the average theater-goer either. Doing so, Cofer said, will mean tearing out a wall between the theater and the building next door. It’s not a glitzy design element and it will not be cheap, but it’s necessary.

Another behind-the-scenes upgrade will be building dressing rooms in space in the rear of the third building — behind the Friends of the Library bookstore. Building codes also will require installation of a sprinkler system.

The most apparent changes will be a new entrance and lobby. The new entrance will be through the building adjacent to the theatre — where the new marquee is. The entrance has to be moved because the original entrance opens upon an uphill grade that does not meet handicap-accessibility requirements.

Inside the new entrance patrons will enter a lobby with exposed brick walls. The space will be about three times the size of the current lobby and open to the ceiling of the second floor. The design, Cofer said, will be simple, but elegant, and will not cost a lot.

The building next to the theater also will house handicap-accessible bathrooms and rehearsal space on two floors. Plans do not call for much work in the theater proper, where the audience sits. There will be fresh paint on the walls, but no decision has been made on whether the seating will be refurbished or replaced.

Besides some cosmetic touch-ups, Cofer said, there’s not a lot to be done in the original theater. The most important thing may be to preserve as much as possible.

“A majority of the character is still here,” he said, “and we’re going to try to retain as much of that as we can.”

Down the road, Cofer said, he can envision future work on the theater.

“Give it five or 10 years,” he said. “I suspect, if it’s successful, there will be certain demands, certain things will come to life, and they will want to add or to expand. Buildings are like that.”

Photo
Paul Church
CHANGES COMING — Architect Steve Cofer passes through the front lobby of the Sunset Theatre Friday, while making notes concerning future renovations to the historic facility.

Group seeks county help with theatre

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 04:48:00 +0000

from The Randolph Guide

Larry Penkava

Staff Writer

ASHEBORO — Bill Hoover, co-chairman of a campaign to renovate the Sunset Theatre into a regional performing arts center, went before the commissioners Monday to get their support for the $1.2 million needed for the capital project.

After showing a video titled “Asheboro’s Next Act,” Hoover said his group is “ask(ing) the county to consider the Sunset Theatre in your budget for the next five years.”

The amount the Sunset group is seeking is $50,000 per year.

“People are downtown again,” said Hoover. “Sunset can join it as a focal point.”

The Sunset Theatre just celebrated its 80th birthday, having opened March 6, 1930. But it hasn’t been used as a commercial movie theater for decades. Instead, the city bought the building and two adjoining it in 2005 with the vision of turning it into a performing arts center.

The problem is, it was built to show movies, not for live performances. The conversion will mean turning space into dressing rooms, a bigger lobby, a rehearsal room and also making restrooms handicapped accessible.

Hoover said his organization has been hosting a series of meetings at the theatre to enlist support from the community. The actual fund-raising campaign kicks off Monday, April 19, and is scheduled to be completed by Memorial Day.

The other co-chairs are Hoover’s wife Ann and former Mayor David Jarrell. There are 10 others on the steering committee.

“Linda Carlisle, North Carolina’s secretary of Cultural Resources, will join us” at the kickoff, said Hoover. He added that Sixth District Congressman Howard Coble “has offered to help with federal funding.”

The city has already put $1 million into the theatre. Now the Sunset group is asking the county to invest as well.

“Sunset is poised to be the crown jewel of downtown,” Hoover said.