Friends envision place for arts, community life

ELKIN -- Elkin is working to bring back its art-deco Reeves Theater, a 1940s movie house with a façade in four shades of blue with orange trim.

It once lit Main Street with a large neon sign, but since the mid-1980s, has stood dark. Water damage ruined most of the interior. And though a group of investors bought it in 1998, plans to restore it never materialized.

Now, two friends who grew up in Elkin and moved back here to raise children, are taking on the deteriorating building. They envision it as a place for performing arts and community activities.

"We told them, ‘We can take it. We can fix it,SSRq" said Robin Turner, a real-estate appraiser.

Turner and childhood friend Cicely McCulloch contacted town officials about taking ownership of the building. McCulloch owns Diana's Bookstore, which is next to the theater. Turner would meet her at the store for lunch and coffee, and the two women were always talking about the crumbling theater.

In May, after several meetings, a group of investors gave the building to Tri-County Citizens Foundation, a nonprofit group formed in the 1990s to accept donations of property or money for the community's benefit. The foundation had been idle for the past few years and was made active to receive the theater.

Turner and McCulloch were named co-chairwomen of the foundation's board of directors.

And they set out to reopen the Reeves Theater by 2010.

The cost is estimated at $2.5 million to $3 million.

"You have different people tell you, ‘Oh, it shouldn't cost a million or a million and a half. It's art deco,' and they can't believe we're restoring it," McCulloch said. "The point will be this will be for all sorts of activities, performing arts, things for children."

The town of Elkin has given $25,000 toward the project. This month, the Surry County Board of Commissioners also gave $25,000.

It's a mammoth project and will take many supporters, town officials said. The restoration group will also be applying for grants. "It would add so much to the historic downtown district … just to have that jewel in downtown," said Laurette Leagon, the president of the Yadkin Valley Chamber of Commerce.

Much of Elkin's downtown was placed on the federal National Register of Historic Places in November 2000. The theater is in the district, said Teresa Howell, Elkin's Main Street program director, but it is not as old as most of the other buildings, which date between 1890 and 1920.

In 1941, Dr. W.B. Reeves, a local eye doctor, built the 700-seat theater.

People walked past a soda shop inside before taking their seats to watch newsreels, Rita Hayworth movies and Donald Duck cartoons. Admission was 33 cents.

In the 1970s, it was converted into a twin theater. A high-school drafting teacher designed a second theater inside the balcony, town officials say.

The Elk Twin Theaters installed new seating, carpets and drapes. But a few years later, the community landmark began to lose business. Its owner declared bankruptcy. And small leaks in the roof became big ones, causing water damage.

In 1998, a group of five investors-- a businessman, an attorney, an oral surgeon, a town consultant and a woman who grew up in Elkin--bought the building for $25,000. The property is still valued at about $25,000.

They replaced the roof, and talked of completing a total restoration and of finding a nonprofit group to take on the responsibility.

Turner and McCulloch are now meeting every two weeks with Howell and others who make up the board of directors for the Tri-County Citizens Foundation to discuss the progress of the restoration.

Two weeks ago, architects came to Elkin to measure the historic theater for restoration. A specialist with the state historic-preservation office confirmed that the building is historically valuable.

"It has sustained some interior deterioration because of moisture, but the basic bones of the structure are still intact as well as a great deal of the historic fabric like the beautiful moldings around the stage," said David Gall, an architect in Winston-Salem.

Gall is putting together a plan for demolition and stabilization. Most of the interior will likely be gutted. The exterior façade still has enameled metal panels, which are expected to be saved and repaired.

Later, he will develop a plan for restoration.

"It's a very valuable resource for that community," Gall said.

■ Sherry Youngquist can be reached in Mount Airy at 336-789-9338 or at syoungquist@wsjournal​.com.