Recapturing a piece of Iola’s former glory will help make it more of a cultural magnet than it already is. WHEN SMITH and Toland first purchased the theater in April from The One, an Iola religious group that used it for a time and then leased it to Fellowship Regional Church, they found immediate need was a new roof. ALREADY much of the theater’s interior has been gutted, revealing touches of its Art Deco grandeur of the 1930s, including elaborate designs in concrete doorways and on walls. Smith pointed out that colorful murals once graced walls sections, but, to his disgust, were painted over. SMITH ENVISIONS a grand lady of the Art Deco era when the theater is fully restored.
At least that’s the thinking of David Toland and Jim Smith, two of Iola’s more adventuresome investors.
The two are busy restoring the Iola Theater to its original Art Deco style of the 1930s.
Toland and Smith purchased the theater last spring. In addition to the physical labor, they are putting together a not-for-profit group to make the project eligible for private tax-deductible and grant funding.
Support will be sought not only for returning the theater to its Art Deco glory of when it opened in 1931, but also in an endowment to ensure that it continues as a place for entertainment and a multitude of others uses, such as wedding receptions, family gatherings and class reunions.
“We’re in the process of becoming a 501(c) (non-profit status),” Toland said, but until that occurs financial support will be accepted through the Allen County Community Foundation.
The theater closed as a movie venue in 2001 when the Sterling Six Cinema opened at the east edge of Iola.
“It had needed one for a long time,” Smith said, noting that water leaking into the building had extensively damaged ceilings and walls.
“We put on a new metal roof that slopes to the rear of the building,” at a cost of $68,000, Smith added, which has prevented further interior water damage.
While no study has been done to determine full cost of restoration, Toland and Smith estimate it will be “at least $600,000.”
Restoration will be patterned after what was done with the Granada Theatre in Emporia.
“The Granada is the model for old-theater restoration into a multi-purpose facility,” Toland said.
This year’s schedule at the Granada included classic movies on the big screen such as “North by Northwest,” “From Here to Eternity” and “Miracle on 34th Street,” as well as live musical presentations and a special feature for the Emporia State University homecoming.
An old theater in Fort Scott also was redone as a community venue.
“We want to do the same with the Iola Theater,” Toland said, which led to his cultural magnet comment. “We have the Bowlus Fine Arts Center at the upper end and the Warehouse Theatre for smaller productions. The Iola can provide a venue somewhere in-between,” and also be a place for family and community events.
The theater’s operation as a not-for-profit facility will require a board of directors. Toland and Smith are natural choices for two seats and at least five others will be sought.
“We’re open to anyone who would like to become involved,” Toland allowed, and encouraged calls to himself or Smith. Volunteers also will be sought to help with hands-on work.
All the old seats have been removed, except in the balcony, along with structures, such as a downstairs projection room, that had been added over the years. Several original light fixtures have been uncovered and will be used as patterns for restored period lighting.
“We have all or parts of three chandeliers — actually all of one — that hung in the main part of the theater, one of four sconces (still on a wall) and the four ceiling fixtures that were in the balcony,” Smith said.
When the theater opened Aug. 17, 1931, with the showing of “Sporting Blood,” the Register reported it featured “Clark Gable, one of the newer stars who has come into extraordinary prominence quite recently.”
Then, 990 seats were available to patrons. At first glance, even with the main auditorium’s size accentuated by being empty, it is difficult to imagine that many seats.
But, Toland pointed out, seats were more narrow than those of today, and rows were closer together. The balcony also held a good portion of the seating.
The theater was built by Ira Kelley, of Kelley Hotel fame. Fact is, most of the 300 block of South Washington Avenue contained businesses owned by Kelley — the Iola and Kelley hotels, Kelley and Iola theaters and a car dealership in the two-story brick building south of the Iola Theater.
“It’s kind of like peeling an onion,” Toland said of getting back to the original interior of the building.
The entryway, for example, has an ornate ledge under which neon lights flickered on each evening, with a shoe-shine parlor on the south side and a barber shop on the north, making the theater a Depression Era multi-plex of a different nature than today’s theaters.
A lounge up a flight of stairs and under the balcony seating had plush red carpet — Smith recalls it from his youth — and spacious restrooms on one side, the theater manager’s office on the other.
At the back of the balcony was the projection room.
Art Deco grandeur
