After years of planning and restoration, the Dawn Theater in downtown Hillsdale will soon begin a new chapter.
“The theater has been completely rehabilitated,” Dawn Theater patron Mary Wolfram said. “It will begin taking bookings in March.”
The theater, located at 110 N. Broad St., will host a private grand opening on Saturday, Feb. 19, from 6 – 9 p.m. The event will feature hors d’ oeuvres, wine, beer, and music by the Hillsdale College Big Band, according to Wolfram. Tickets are $50 per person and must be reserved in advance by emailing friendsofthedawn@gmail.com or calling (810) 844-1396.
This will be the first event in the space since the construction’s completion, according to Hillsdale College Chair and Professor of Theatre James Brandon, who worked on an advisory committee for the project.
“Any money raised will go to the further restoration of the Dawn,” Brandon said.
The City of Hillsdale’s Tax Increment Finance Authority purchased the building in a “two-for-one” deal with the Keefer House in 2016, but it continued to sit empty and fall into disrepair, according to City of Hillsdale Zoning Administrator Alan Beeker, who worked as a liaison between TIFA, the architect, and the contractor for the project.
Hope for the Dawn first appeared when the city participated in a project called Rising Tide, Beeker said. One of the benefits of the program was that the Michigan Economic Development Corporation would match $200,000 the city spent on restoring a building downtown.
It was originally just enough to save the building from utter ruin and pay for a roof and the electrical, Beeker said.
“We marveled that the roof trusses were still holding up anything,” he said. “They were completely inverted and were coming away from their barring points.”
When the MEDC found out the history of the building, it offered a $1.4 million Community Development Block Grant in 2018 to assist in completely restoring the building, Beeker said. This covered a “lion’s share” of the nearly $2 million it took to complete the project.
The COVID-19 pandemic delayed the construction from April to June 2020, Beeker said. Construction finished in December 2021.
“The project went remarkably smoothly,” he said.
Over the years, the Dawn Theater was renovated multiple times since opening as a Vaudeville theater in 1919. It was a single-screen movie theater until 1996, when it closed after a boiler explosion, according to Wolfram.
“It is very historic, as it really tracks the film industry in America and what was going on in small towns,” Wolfram said.
It was a nightclub from 1998 to 2008, and new owners used it as a music venue from 2010 to 2015, according to Wolfram. A lot of research went into preserving the theater’s original design.
“We tried as much as possible to make the space look like it did in 1919,” Brandon said. “It feels like a brand-new space, but it absolutely has a lot of the elements that were present in the original building.”
The Michigan State Historic Preservation Office helped with designing the theater as original as possible, Wolfram said.
The original ramped theater seating was lost, but the seats in the balcony remain, which might become a small museum at the theater, she said.
Wolfram said Folke Construction, the Hillsdale-based construction company that won the bid for the job, was wonderful to work with.
“They were very sensitive to the historic nature of the theater because a lot of those guys grew up here going to movies at the Dawn Theater,” Wolfram said. “They just loved doing this in their own neighborhood.”
They found the original orchestra pit underneath the flooring where the stage is today. An orchestra would have originally accompanied silent movies when the Dawn opened, according to Wolfram. They also found an organ pit as well.
“We have the original theater organ in pieces,” she said. “We are trying to raise money to restore it.”
Part of the Wurlitzer Grand Organ was found under the floor, along with the organ chambers on either side of the stage.
“It has pipes, but it also has instruments that would make sounds for the silent films,” she said. “A theater organ is like a pipe organ with instruments. And we still have all of them.”
The Friends of the Dawn are trying to raise money to cover the costs of renovating the organ, and putting in a sound system and projector. Ad Astra Coffee Roasters has created an “It’s a New Dawn” coffee blend to benefit the theater, as well.
CL Real Estate will run both the Keefer House and the day-to-day operations of the theater. Beeker said renovation of the Dawn Theater piqued the company’s interest while it was considering managing the Keefer House.
“The Keefer doesn’t have adequate space for events,” he said. “They wound up volunteering to manage the theater in addition to the hotel.”
This joint venture helped both projects to get adequate funding.
“The idea for them is that the Dawn might draw people to the city who might stay in the hotel,” Brandon said.
The community can use the space for both private and public events.
“For instance, the community could host a movie night. There will also be a private aspect for the space, like using the space as a wedding venue,” Brandon said. “In a given week, there could be a community event on Wednesday and Thursday, and private events on Friday and Saturday,” Brandon said.
With a raised stage and a common area, community members can use the building in a few different configurations, he said.
“You can set it up as a theater, you can set it up with banquet tables, round tables, or as a ballroom,” Brandon said.
Beeker said he is excited for the public grand opening and ribbon cutting, which will take place on March 4, from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m..
“We are expecting that it will bring revival to the downtown in a lot of ways,” Beeker said. “We are hoping that will bring businesses and retails back to downtown.”
