THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, October 3, 1996 TAG: 9610030066
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MIKE KNEPLER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 85 lines
THE PLAN TO renovate the historic Attucks Theatre on Church Street has received its greatest financial boost so far - a $105,000 grant from the Norfolk Foundation.
The foundation's gift, awarded in September, was one of two recent contributions to the Attucks' $2.1 million capital campaign. Last week, Vice Mayor Herbert M. Collins Sr. announced that a $10,000 donation had been made from the estate of the late Celia Stern.
Together, the two gifts will build momentum for a three-year formal capital fund-raising campaign, which is to be launched officially during the first quarter of 1997, said the Rev. Joseph N. Green Jr., president of the nonprofit Crispus Attucks Cultural Center Inc.
``It means we're on our way, that people know what we're trying to do, and they are responding,'' Green said.
Renovation of the now-empty Attucks is expected to cost $4.2 million, with the city of Norfolk to match half the amount.
The Attucks organization wants to restore the building for theater productions and also house other artistic and educational activities, such as fine arts presentations, Green said.
Also, the entire building would serve as a gallery for displaying artistic creations from the region's black population, he said.
The Attucks Theatre, opened in 1919, was designed, constructed, financed and owned by African Americans. Its architect was the late Harvey N. Johnson.
In its heyday, the Attucks was the region's leading venue for black entertainers, drawing international stars such as Cab Calloway, Bessie Smith, Ethel Waters and Dinah Washington as well as local performers.
The building was named for Crispus Attucks, a black man who was the first Colonial American patriot killed by the British in the Boston Massacre in the years leading up to the American Revolution. The theater contains a huge curtain depicting the death of Attucks.
Over its long history, the Attucks has been used in a variety of ways, including for vaudeville theater, movies and even a clothing store.
But this week, Green said the two contributions are ``proof that it's a viable project.''
The Attucks' last sizable grant was $25,000 in 1993. That was matched by $25,000 from the city.
The Norfolk Foundation gift was the largest new grant awarded by the community philanthropic organization in 1996, said Lee Kitchin, the foundation's executive director.
``Clearly, the Attucks is one of the historic landmarks in the community,'' Kitchin said of the foundation's decision. ``It's symbolic of the role the black community has played dating back to Revolutionary War.
``Equally to that, the Attucks will be used again as a living theater - not just a building to be looked at but a place with continuing, living activities. That's the plan and we hope it will be a success.''
The foundation's $105,000 gift will be distributed over three years, Kitchin said.
The $10,000 from the Celia Stern estate is being awarded in two $5,000 installments, Collins said. The estate is administered by Norfolk attorney Peter G. Decker Jr.
``I've begun to call on my friends, and I called on Pete,'' Collins said, ``and he generously agreed to make this donation on behalf of the estate.''
Collins said he is helping to raise money for the Attucks as part of his involvement in a City Hall committee that oversees redevelopment of the Church Street-Huntersville area.
The group, called the Mayor's Committee on Church Street-Huntersville Development, formerly was led by Green when he was a member of the Norfolk City Council. It is now led by Council member Daun Hester. ILLUSTRATION: Graphic
OTHER NORFOLK FOUNDATION GRANTS
The Norfolk Foundation's $105,000 grant to the Crispus Attucks
Cultural Center was one of six gifts to area nonprofit
organizations. The others were:
$245,000 for its ongoing commitment to the Business Consortium
for Arts Support.
$40,000 to the Hope House Foundation for its Pathways program,
which links adults with developmental disabilities with community
volunteers.
$27,500 to the Virginia Waterfront International Arts Festival, a
new celebration to be held April 27-May 11, 1997.
$25,000 to Big Brothers/Big Sisters of South Hampton Roads Inc.
to expand its school-based mentoring program in Norfolk public
schools.
$15,000 to the Accessible Housing Corp. of South Hampton Roads to
help provide assistance devices for 25 Norfolk apartments being
developed for low-income adults with physical disabilities. by CNB