BELLEFONTAINE, Ohio– In an age when small-town theaters lay in disrepair and forgotten in time, the city of Bellfontaine is embracing its past.
- A brand new chapter has started in the nearly 90-year history of the Holland Theatre.
- Bellefontaine’s community has helped contribute over $800,000 to the four year $1.6 million renovation and restoration project.
- The theatre, which was built in 1931, reopens next Friday with a performance by Grammy Winner and Folk legend Judy Collins.
The historic downtown Holland Theatre, located about an hour northwest of Columbus, has gone through a 1.6 million dollar renovation and restoration project over the past four years.
It’s the only Dutch Atmospheric Theater in North America and a crown jewel for generations for this city of 13,000 residents.
The theatre is decorated, and architectural elements used to evoke a sense of being outdoors.
“I think that people are really hungry for authentic experiences, and you can’t really get those at the big box stores. I don’t think it compares to the value when you go into a community when you go to the restaurant, and the people are making the food that they make there. And you go to the theatre, and they’re offering a show that’s a singular experience,” says Holland Theatre Managing Director Chris Westhoff.
The venue, which holds a little over 500 people, has upgraded seats, carpet, lights, sound, concession stands, and restored paneling to go along with new murals in the lobby and exterior facade.
It’s an experience for both the artist and guest alike and a tribute to the work of a well known Lima architect.
“The architect that designed the building, Peter Hulsken, came from Holland. There are Dutch facades of buildings from the village that he actually grew up in. There are windmills that turn, there are birds that mark the dutch landscape,” says Westhoff.
In 1999 the Holland Theatre was purchased by a local businessman and donated to the Logan County Landmark Preservation.
Since then, the community raised over $800,000 and received a matching grant from the Jeffris Family Foundation based in Wisconsin and well as financial backing from Honda.
Long-time Board president Kris Swisher says the community deserves the credit for not letting the landmark be forgotten in time.
“They’ve continued to support it by attending events when there was no heat, freezing cold seats that were falling apart, duct-taped together. They’ve shown up with their lives, they’ve shown up with their support financially,” says Swisher.
And Swisher says the Logan County community has thrived in recent years because of the opportunities brought in from transportation manufacturing, and it’s had a ripple effect for downtown Bellefontaine.
“Now we have a lot of small businesses in the community that are picking up because of that foot traffic that has stayed here,” says Swisher.
For Westhoff, who is also involved in many local art ventures, he’s looking forward to the range of acts this season and what the future holds.
And it all kicks off next Friday with Grammy Award winner and Iconic folk singer Judy Collins.
“Everything you could have done has been done, and now it’s just in the hands of the show, and now you can watch the people enjoy themselves,” says Westhoff.