STAFF REPORTS
GREENFIELD — The Friends of the Theater recently organized its second annual volunteer day at the H.J. Ricks Centre for the Arts.
Once a year, the nonprofit organizes a volunteer crew to help with maintenance projects at the historic theater, 122 W. Main St.
Volunteers spent the day tightening the hardware on theater seats, touching up paint on the front of the stage and repairing light fixtures in the dressing rooms. The volunteer days are part of an ongoing effort by the nonprofit to keep the Ricks thriving.
The Friends of the Theater formed in 2017 to support the Ricks after the theater lost funding in the county budget, leaving the facility dependent on grants and donation dollars.
In 2018, the Friends group announced its first capital project: refurbishing the historic marquee. Fundraising for the project, going on now, is estimated at about $15,000.
More information can be found on hctheaterfriends.org.
The theater opened in 1946 as the Weil Theater and was renamed the Village Theater in the 1980s. Then-owners Linda and Allen Strahl donated the space to be used as a community arts venue in 2002, and in 2005, the Village Theater underwent a $700,000 renovation. The theater, which seats almost 400 people, reopened as the H.J. Ricks Centre for the Arts in 2006 and is owned by the nonprofit Hancock County Visitors Bureau.
The Ricks welcomes about 50 to 75 community events each year.
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The Friends of the Theater, a nonprofit dedicated to preserving the H.J. Ricks Centre for the Arts in downtown Greenfield, is staffed by volunteers who depend on donations to further their mission. To donate or learn more about getting involved, visit hctheaterfriends.org.
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