Colony Receives Historic Preservation Tax Credit

Wednesday, March 19th, 2008
By James Maddox
The Marietta Register 

Back in early January of 2008 The Marietta Register reported on The Colony Theatre’s efforts to persuade the Ohio Department of Development to reconsider their denial of an Ohio Historic Preservation Tax Credit. The Colony’s application was originally denied on the grounds that it was incomplete upon reviews based on cost-benefit issues; however, thanks to the diligence of The Colony board and its supporters, that denial was recently overturned and plans for the theatre restoration to move forward were picked up once again.

In a press conference held at the theatre on Friday, March 14, Hunt Brawley, director of development for The Colony, said, “At this point we feel we’re going to be able to hit the full mark.”

(From L to R) Terry Miller, Oona and Margaret Lazer, Judy Segall, Davis Powers, Dan Stephan, Sr., Mayor Michael Mullen, Representative Jennifer Garrison, Development Director Hunt Brawley, David Tenney, Bill Wesel, Ken Morrison and Dan Harrison.
Photo courtesy The Marietta Register. Photographer Kevin Paskawych.

Brawley went on to add that if the credit hadn’t come through, those in charge of the restoration would have to pull steps out of the original project, but now they can hand their chosen contractors the pre-made plans and blueprints and let them get to work in a single construction cycle.

Brawley says he’s hopeful about getting construction crews into The Colony within 6 months, and without any holdups or unforeseen problems the theatre could be up and running anywhere between 8 to 12 months.

Brawley is also quick to thank State Representative Jennifer Garrison and Philip Desenze for fighting to keep The Colony’s “foot in the door” with the ODOD.

“Both of them made sure we weren’t left out in the cold,” says Brawley.

Garrison, who has felt strongly about The Colony’s reconstruction for some time and has often been referred to as an “ally for Southeast Ohio” by Brawley, says, “I was very impressed with the amount of community support given to the theatre. I think it will be a strong anchor for the downtown area and good for Marietta in general.”

This will make the second tax credit awarded to The Colony’s restoration project. The first, a federal historic tax credit, is worth 20% of the project’s costs, but in securing this state tax credit, another 25% of the costs will be covered, which will make the task of bringing the theatre back to life that much more feasible.

Although this is great news from Brawley’s camp, he also says that The Colony is going to need to raise about a million dollars from the private and public sectors if a completely Broadway-esque theater is going to be completed; however, he says that with the excitement of laying claim to these vast credit amounts, the community might be spurred into stronger action.

Many of those familiar with the Hippodrome/Colony Historical Theatre Association’s accomplishments would certainly agree that making advancements and meeting their goals are qualities this group is starting to be known for, and with that said, getting people to rally behind them shouldn’t be a difficult task.

“Brawley’s enthusiasm is contagious,” says Garrison. “I’m really happy that their persistence paid off. Without it, this would have remained a dark theatre.”

The Colony Theatre
Director of Development - Hunt Brawley
Administrative Assistant - Becky Bowles

Board of Directors

Officers
Dan S. Stephan, Sr., President
Bill Wesel, Vice President
Karl Ulmer, Secretary
Terry Miller, Treasurer

Directors
Jerry Brock
Dan Harrison
Margaret Lazer
Steve Miner
Ken Morrison
Michael Mullen, Ex-officio
Davis Powers
Judy Segall
David Tenney

Steering Committee
Judy Segall and Bill Wesel, Co-Chairs
Ryan Elliott
Dan Harrison
Fred Hunter
Dan Jones
Steve McCarthy
Neil Parsons
Davis Powers
Dan S. Stephan, Sr.