TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV) — Last February the historical Indiana Theatre in downtown Terre Haute was donated to the Vigo County Capital Improvement Board by local businessman, Greg Gibson, and on Wednesday, board members took the next step toward the future of the facility by approving a feasibility study for the theater project.
“I grew up in the late 80s early 90s and downtown Terre Haute had dissipated and kind of everything moved south as the interstate came through and to Honey Creek Mall, Haute City Center now, but I think today, you see a resurgence of downtown,” CIB Vice President and Vigo County Commissioner Chris Switzer said. “More restaurants, more bars, the convention center, hotel, proposed another hotel,” he added.
And eventually added to that list will be the return of the Indiana Theatre, in some capacity.
“How do we capitalize on all of that and bring more people downtown,” Switzer said.
To get to that point, Switzer said the CIB must first identify the true purpose of the theater. On Wednesday, the board unanimously approved working with Kevin Cooper of STUDIOAXIS to have a feasibility study done for the theater project.
While the firm is out of Indianapolis, Cooper is a Terre Haute native. He recalled walking through the theater earlier this year when is was donated.
“That was the first time that we’d walked through since, probably when I was in high school, that’s the last time I had been in the theater but spent lots of time in there as a youngster and a high schooler,” Cooper said.
Switzer said there are lots of possibilities for grant funding for the facility but the board needs data on the facility to make applications competitive.
“We need to identify an operator first,” Switzer said. “Second, we need to find out truly what’s wrong with the building, the roofing the plumbing, mechanicals, plaster issues, there’s been some flooding in the basement, all kinds of stuff and we need to identify all those things and get that in writing to be able to provide whoever is going to be funding this.”
That’s where the three step feasibility study comes in.
“Step one, we call it, is information gathering. So, that’s when we’ll dig into the history of the building,” Cooper said. “We’ll tour the building. We’re going to digitally scan the building which will give us 3 dimensional models which we’ll utilize to develop floor plans and renderings of the building. It’ll also give us a pretty accurate assessment of square footage and volume of the building.”
Step two involves programming and the project description. Cooper said the most important piece of that phase is sitting down with stakeholders.
“A lot of people have a lot of memories about the building, and we just want to hear from as many people as possible,” he said.
Step three is the report itself and the opportunities for the location. Cooper expects all three steps to be wrapped up in about three to five months.
“We know that we just can’t let the building sit because it will just deteriorate more, Switzer said. “My goal is to keep finding a way to move forward,” he added.
In other business news
During the CIB meeting, board members also received an update on the Larry Bird Museum which is located in the downtown Terre haute Convention Center.
Interactive exhibits are expected to be installed soon. The production company has just a few interviews left to conduct, and the artifacts will be the last to go in the space.
As for the current timeline to open, the board said they’re hoping to get Larry Bird himself in Terre Haute sometime in March during March Madness.
