Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, April 30, 1993 TAG: 9304300249
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PULASKI LENGTH: Medium
The Pulaski County Board of Supervisors probably could be persuaded to give it to you for the asking.
The Pulaski Theater was donated to the county by its former owners after it closed as a movie house - and after the town of Pulaski had declined the gift.
Now the county is finding the town may have known something it didn't - that the old theater could be an expensive present.
It would cost an estimated $100,000 to renovate it enough for it to be useable again. Even tearing it down to clear its lot for parking space would cost about $15,000.
So, when a delegation approached the governing body this week asking that the theater be preserved and restored "as an irreplaceable community asset," the board's reluctance might be understandable.
The newly organized Friends of the Pulaski Theater would like to see the facility used as a civic center for community gatherings, concerts and music events, live theatrical productions, lectures, films and other programs.
Lydia J. Hickam, representing the group, said such a use would fit in with the downtown Historical District and enhance efforts under way to restore and revitalize the town's central business sector.
"In fact, really, the sky's the limit," she said.
She noted that, while some features of the building have been altered over the years, it remains an example of Urban Classical Revival architecture.
The response from Supervisor Bruce Fariss was: Could the county give the theater to the friends group?
But even giving it away could cost the county money. Architect Thomas A. Douthat, one of those wanting to preserve it, has warned that leaks from the roof are damaging the structure and need to be repaired. The cost to do that could be as high as $10,000.
Fariss said he would hesitate to spend that on a building that could end up being torn down. Board Chairman Jerry White said that a temporary patch job could be done more cheaply and still preserve the building for future options.
The county will approach Pulaski Town Council to seek some of the money needed for the repairs before deciding whether to do them. Town Councilman Roy D'Ardenne also is a member of the preservation group.
Originally known as the Elks Theater, the facility was built in 1911 as a vaudeville house. It was converted to retail use as the Dix-Richardson Store in the late 1920s or early 1930s, and became the Pulaski Theater in the late '30s, continuing as a movie house until it closed in 1991.
The town's only other movie house, the Dalton Theater, has been closed for years. The town has no movie theater and, except for those in the Radford Shopping Plaza just outside the city of Radford, neither does the county.
The friends organization asked the county to delay any plans for demolishing the building for parking space until at least September.
Meanwhile, it would seek an economic impact study - perhaps with help from students at Virginia Tech - on the project, and explore fund raising from individuals, businesses and corporations as well as foundations that might provide grants.
Pulaski County would not be the only place in Southwest Virginia trying to preserve its last old-time movie theater.
Galax is trying to do the same with its Rex Theater, as is the town of Marion with its Lincoln Theater. The region's most successful project has been Bristol's Paramount Theater, now serving as exactly the kind of community and arts programming envisioned by Hickam and her group.
by CNB