"The Colony " published by The Marietta Register, April 4, 2007

By guest columnist, R. Hunt Brawley, J.D.
Director, Hippodrome/Colony Historical Theatre Association

If a few things work out for us in the next couple of months we just might start construction on the Colony Theatre which has been closed since 1985. Our goal is to fully restore the 1000 seat theatre so that it will once again serve as a major entertainment destination in the region.

In the early stages of our efforts we were constantly greeted with well-intentioned skepticism. Older folks fondly remembered the “Hippodrome” and later Colony Cinema. Many recounted their first date or their first kiss there. Shaking their heads, they would often say wistfully, “Wouldn’t it be great to restore the old theatre.” I sensed they were thinking it’s a pipe dream and would never happen. Younger folks may have seen a film at the Colony, and their eyes light up when they recall the Rocky Horror Picture Show or another of their favorites. “What are you going to do with the theatre? Restore it?” A blank stare would follow. I knew what they were thinking. “That would be great, but the place is trashed!” The bankers and business leaders were supportive, but also skeptical, “That’s a lot of money. How are you going to make this work financially? Can the community sustain it?”

The Colony restoration effort has definitely crossed the dream to reality threshold. We have raised $1.7 Million from public and private sources and believe we can procure $2.5 Million in tax credits. We will still need to raise and additional $1 Million to complete construction and provide operating cash reserves, but we believe this can be accomplished during construction.

The question still remains as to whether the theatre will be a success. The overly simplistic answer is that the theatre will be a success if enough people walk through its doors. We have conducted a considerable amount of feasibility and forecasting. Based on the seating capacity, size of stage, and market served, we believe the Colony is a unique facility with the ability to present larger shows not available in the region. But in order to sustain the project, the community will have to change its habits and make downtown much more of a destination.

Already, the Colony is working with the City of Marietta, the Convention and Visitor’s Bureau and the local Main Street organization, “Re-Store Marietta” to encourage downtown development. The mutual goal is to make downtown a much more exciting area to live, work and play, but the benefits to the community will reach well beyond the downtown district.  

"One of our goals is to create a parking problem."

One of my favorite questions to answer is, “Don’t you have a parking problem?” My answer has always been, “No, Have you ever seen Putnam Street and the Parking Partners lot after five o’clock? I follow that answer up with the statement, “One of our goals is to create a parking problem.” When it’s hard to find a parking space after 5:00, we will have accomplished something.

Cleveland Playhouse Square was one of the earlier success stories in downtown re-development. In an effort to revitalize an abandoned section of Cleveland through the creation of a specialized entertainment district, Cleveland Playhouse Square Center took on the risky and ambitious task of restoring five theatres on the same block. The Palace, the Allen, the Ohio, the State and the Hannah were all restored and today they seat over 10,000 patrons and entertain over a million people a year! Each theatre has a bit of a niche that they program to (Broadway, symphony, movies, etc.) and they are hugely successful.

Marietta is obviously a smaller market, but we often point out that when the Hippodrome was built in 1919 there were at least five theatres that were operating simultaneously. In Marietta, like in Cleveland, people use to go downtown for entertainment. Cleveland had its Playhouse Square, but Marietta had several theatres all operating at the same time: the Auditorium theatre on Putnam and Third (1880), the Star on Front (1909), the Lyric at 123 Putnam (1910), The Grand at 138 Putnam (1912) and the Putnam Theatre (1915) now the MOVP theatre right across the street. Downtown Marietta was once a thriving entertainment district and there is no reason it can’t succeed once again.