"Thumbs Up" For The Colony

By Hunt Brawley

Killis Almond of Killis Almond and Associates, Theatre Consultants, San Antonio, Texas, recently completed a 100 page feasibility report for the Colony. In the report, he states, “The Colony Theatre represents an existing economical opportunity for the region to add an historic 1100 seat theatre and its compliment of attractions and municipal services. The area is currently under-served by public theatres in the mid-size range and with the potential qualities of a rehabilitated Colony.”

Other theatre Consultants who have examined the potential for restoring The Colony are overwhelmingly positive about the project. Their comments are as follows:

“Neither a comparable facility nor comparable programming is available in the region. The Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium at Ohio University, an hour’s drive west in Athens, is the closest theater venue of a comparable size, at 2000 seats. Other regional venues such as the Mid- Ohio Valley Players Theater and the Becky Thatcher Showboat in Marietta or the Smoot Theatre in Parkersburg, West Virginia are signifi cantly smaller.”
    ---Jay Panzer, Theatre Consultant Facility Strategies Limited, Columbus, Ohio

“The interesting fact is that it is a “no brainer” project decision. There is literally nothing like it in the region.”
    --- Dennis Sankovitch, Former Director of the Ritz Theatre, Tiffi n, Ohio. Current Executive Director of Riley Education Performing Arts Center, Meridian, Mississippi