Though he’s less than certain as to how soon and at what price, Twilight Theatre Board member John Janssen is certain of one thing—the new theatre will be built. “We’re going to get it done, one way or another,” Janssen told The Signal Thursday morning.
For now, however, raising money is priority one, a task Janssen and other board members are focused on daily.
Not knowing how much more needs to be raised should no longer be a problem by the end of the month, Janssen and the board having met two weeks ago in Wichita with architect Ron Spangenburg and contractor Vernie Lehrman.
“We’ve had preliminary drawings for some time,” Janssen said. “But when we met with Ron and Vern we told them the things we could live without and which things are a necessity in the design. Ron is reworking the drawings and he and Vernie should have, I’d think, a pretty firm number for us by Thanksgiving.”
The Board currently has $700,000 on hand with the promise of another $100,000 in grant money from South Central Community Foundation (SCCF). In addition, SCCF has promised to match up to another $100,000 raised by the theatre board in the coming months. If that were accomplished the Twilight would have around $1 million in cash—a goal Janssen hopes to have accomplished by January.
Toward that end Janssen is nearly finished sending out a letter of appeal to those who are either a shareholder in the theatre (around 100) or have purchased state tax credits, or both. Janssen said that amounts to around 130 letters and mentioned that the majority of tax credit purchasers were from out of area. He also has sent several letters to area attorneys handling estate planning.
“We sold some to people in Kansas City and an accountant in Garden City bought up a bunch to sell to his clients,” Janssen said. The letter is an appeal to match the $100,000 available from SCCF. Around $400,000 of the $700,000 on hand resulted from the sale of tax credits.
Janssen said Wichita theatre magnate Bill Warren is still on board to donate the seating, screen, projection/sound equipment, concession area and architectural fees toward the project, a value estimated to be around $250,000.
In addition, Scott Ruud of Logix Blocks, the insulated concrete forms now commonly used to build exterior walls has indicated a willingness to “help us cut the cost” of the blocks, according to Janssen. He said Ruud also “thinks he can get some other suppliers to squeeze prices on materials; maybe we’ll even get some cement donated that Hefts’ can use to make the concrete.”
But with all that Janssen acknowledges there will still be a funding gap of six-figure magnitude. He’s hopeful Hollywood can pick up the slack.
“We’ve got to get the Discovery folks to help us,” Janssen said. More exactly, it’s Craig Piligian, CEO of Pilgrim Productions—the production unit for many of Discovery’s documentaries—that has “tentatively agreed to host a fundraised for us in Hollywood.” Pilgrim, for instance, has been the producer of the “Greensburg” series that’s aired on Discovery’s Planet Green channel since a year after the storm. A third season of the series is currently being produced.
After stating the theatre board would like to break ground on the new facility by next spring, Janssen was asked how likely he thought that development to be on a scale of one to ten, with one being not likely and ten a certainty.
“I’d say 6.5 to 7,” Janssen replied. “I’d like to say a 9, but I’m too realistic to say that. But I’d say that (breaking ground by spring) is a respectable possibility.” What about by next October? “We’d better put that at 100 percent,” he said. “We’ll get it done, however we have to do it.
“We’re working up a realistic, cost-conscientious plan. Nothing frilly about it, but it will be a nice facility that will be useful and a nice addition to the community. And that’s really all you can ask for.”
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Though he’s less than certain as to how soon and at what price, Twilight Theatre Board member John Janssen is certain of one thing—the new theatre will be built. “We’re going to get it done, one way or another,” Janssen told The Signal Thursday morning.
For now, however, raising money is priority one, a task Janssen and other board members are focused on daily.
Not knowing how much more needs to be raised should no longer be a problem by the end of the month, Janssen and the board having met two weeks ago in Wichita with architect Ron Spangenburg and contractor Vernie Lehrman.
“We’ve had preliminary drawings for some time,” Janssen said. “But when we met with Ron and Vern we told them the things we could live without and which things are a necessity in the design. Ron is reworking the drawings and he and Vernie should have, I’d think, a pretty firm number for us by Thanksgiving.”
The Board currently has $700,000 on hand with the promise of another $100,000 in grant money from South Central Community Foundation (SCCF). In addition, SCCF has promised to match up to another $100,000 raised by the theatre board in the coming months. If that were accomplished the Twilight would have around $1 million in cash—a goal Janssen hopes to have accomplished by January.
Toward that end Janssen is nearly finished sending out a letter of appeal to those who are either a shareholder in the theatre (around 100) or have purchased state tax credits, or both. Janssen said that amounts to around 130 letters and mentioned that the majority of tax credit purchasers were from out of area. He also has sent several letters to area attorneys handling estate planning.
“We sold some to people in Kansas City and an accountant in Garden City bought up a bunch to sell to his clients,” Janssen said. The letter is an appeal to match the $100,000 available from SCCF. Around $400,000 of the $700,000 on hand resulted from the sale of tax credits.
Janssen said Wichita theatre magnate Bill Warren is still on board to donate the seating, screen, projection/sound equipment, concession area and architectural fees toward the project, a value estimated to be around $250,000.
In addition, Scott Ruud of Logix Blocks, the insulated concrete forms now commonly used to build exterior walls has indicated a willingness to “help us cut the cost” of the blocks, according to Janssen. He said Ruud also “thinks he can get some other suppliers to squeeze prices on materials; maybe we’ll even get some cement donated that Hefts’ can use to make the concrete.”
But with all that Janssen acknowledges there will still be a funding gap of six-figure magnitude. He’s hopeful Hollywood can pick up the slack.
“We’ve got to get the Discovery folks to help us,” Janssen said. More exactly, it’s Craig Piligian, CEO of Pilgrim Productions—the production unit for many of Discovery’s documentaries—that has “tentatively agreed to host a fundraised for us in Hollywood.” Pilgrim, for instance, has been the producer of the “Greensburg” series that’s aired on Discovery’s Planet Green channel since a year after the storm. A third season of the series is currently being produced.
After stating the theatre board would like to break ground on the new facility by next spring, Janssen was asked how likely he thought that development to be on a scale of one to ten, with one being not likely and ten a certainty.
“I’d say 6.5 to 7,” Janssen replied. “I’d like to say a 9, but I’m too realistic to say that. But I’d say that (breaking ground by spring) is a respectable possibility.” What about by next October? “We’d better put that at 100 percent,” he said. “We’ll get it done, however we have to do it.
“We’re working up a realistic, cost-conscientious plan. Nothing frilly about it, but it will be a nice facility that will be useful and a nice addition to the community. And that’s really all you can ask for.”
