Tuesday, January 26, 2021

The Capitol Theater set to be razed 02/03/2021

Historic 1928 Movie Theater

 

Originally, this theater was built for both sound & silent movies. There was a Wurlitzer organ inside, and would bring in people from literally all over the planet to see & hear the organ play during silent movies and other shows. I vaguely remember coming to this theater in it’s original format, being that I lived in Tokyo until 1977, and visited Racine about 4 times from the time I was born before permanently living here.

In 1976, it was “twinned”. The organ was removed, to accommodate two smaller theaters and renamed The Park. At first, it was part of the Marcus Theaters that hosted a variety of movies along with Racine’s other theaters which only had 2-4 screens each. When Westgate & Regency theaters opened, the other theaters closed, and this one became a value cinema. During my teen years, it was a nice spot to meet friends, whether to see an affordable movie or to start an adventure going elsewhere.

On 01/19/2021, Racine’s City Council met virtually, with a public portion regarding this historical building. We had 6 votes in favor of saving the building, 8 votes opposed. 1 absent. If we could possibly call or email our mayor & alderman, that would be appreciated greatly.

Please call/write to thank them for supporting the theater:

Please call/write to those who voted no, and ask them to reconsider their position to see if a special meeting can be called to put a 3 month hold on the raze. This would be very helpful in being able to come up with the funds. Please be respectful, we can draw more with honey than vinegar.

Here is a sample message:

Dear Mayor/Alderman (Insert Last Name);

Thank you for your hard work you do for the citizens of Racine. As a constituent, I am asking you to reconsider the raze order of the Capitol Theater on February 3. Please hold a special meeting to make a new motion, and encourage you to visit the building since it has a landmark status. I’d like to request a 3-month pause to give citizens a chance to raise money for repairing the building envelope. Preservation Racine is actively doing a pledge drive, as well as a charity Go Fund Me to help pay for the project. I support the project/organization. There is also a petition that has several hundred signers who also support saving the theater.

There is already enough pledge money for the first round of roof repairs, and for portions of the needed exterior brick work! A New Orleans style music group, STELLA, has offered to do a fundraising performance here to help Save the Capitol-Park Theater! Thank you again, for your time and efforts.

Sincerely, (Your Name)

Not present: Please ask him where he sits on the issue & ask if he can support it.

District 12 – Perez – Henry.Perez@cityofracine.org 262-676-2364

Mayor Cory Mason – Webform here – 262-636-9111

For the pledges, if the building is razed anyway, you don’t give up anything. With the fundraiser, the monies will go to Preservation Racine to go toward helping other historical buildings. Let’s keep a part of Racine history. For more up to date information, please visit Friends of the Capitol Theater on Facebook. Thank you for reading & your support!

The twinned Park theaters
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