Wayne Theatre Alliance announces public campaign, ’09 opening date

Item by Chris Graham

The light is at the end of the tunnel for the Wayne Theatre Alliance.
“This is a celebration. I kept saying, We ought to have champagne today,” said Clair Myers, the executive director of the alliance, announcing that the nonprofit is about to take two significant steps toward putting the final pieces of financing in place for the $6.8 million renovation of the historic downtown structure into a community arts center.
The WTA has received approval from the state to begin marketing $1.5 million in historic tax credits that will be a financing cornerstone for the project. And the theatre group will next week begin the public phase of a $2.75 million fund-raising campaign that is already $1.71 million toward its goal from a successful silent campaign.
Alliance chair Bill Hausrath also announced the timetable for the opening of the theatre – which begins with construction at the site commencing in January 2008 and the public opening of the theatre 18 months later in June 2009.
“We have climbed a long mountain that many times we thought we were at the top – and today we can finally see some of the horizon, and we are ready to move forward,” Hausrath said.