ShawneeDispatch.com

Visible progress at one of two venues expected to draw large crowds to Shawnee's downtown district had city and civic officials buzzing this week, but much work remains behind the Fine Arts Theatre's doors, a project official says.

Although the plywood facing has been removed from the front of the theater, at 11119 Johnson Drive, the inside isn't much to look at just yet.

The building is being renovated to restore its early 20th-century charm to the city's downtown district.

"We've had to tear out 30 feet of the concrete floor in the lobby back to where the seats start," said Wade Williams, a partner with the Fine Arts Group, which is restoring the theater. "We're basically down to the dirt."

In addition, Williams' group has replaced almost all of the theater's original frontage and has installed 60 feet of new footings near the front of the building and at the back of the theater's new restrooms.

Williams said the project still could be completed by late summer or early fall, but plenty still remains to be done before the one-screen theater, which will accommodate about 250 people, opens for business.

"It's taken about two months or more to get all of the preliminary stuff done so you can get to where you can actually go up to the theater," Williams said.

Most recently, Williams entered into a purchase agreement May 12 to buy a classic organ for the theater.

The organ, which will be transferred to Shawnee from an organ dealer in Minneapolis, Minn., will cost the group more than $50,000 to install, Williams said.

"But it's worth it. It's beautiful," Williams said. "It'll be rebuilt to today's specifications once it's finished."

The structure also is ready for the concession stand's interior walls to be constructed and for a 30-foot, 14-inch I beam to be installed to support the theater's projection apparatus, Williams said.

"We are in the heavy construction phase," Williams said. "This theater will be a classic when it's finished."

Still to come is a giant arch that eventually will frame the screen and three large chandeliers that will hang in recessed coves from the ceiling.

But Williams won't say how much money he's put into the renovation -- he's got a good reason not to.

"I have no idea how much," he said. "I never, ever look at the money."

A quick check at Shawnee City Hall reveals projected costs for the renovation at $99,999, but even officials in the codes department admitted Monday that the figure likely isn't dead-on.

"It would scare everybody away," Williams said. "They wouldn't get it done if they looked at the cost. The value is the value to the community -- the saving of a single-screen theater."

That value isn't lost on Shawnee Downtown Partnership president David Morris, who is waiting to see the theater open with anxious anticipation.

"They're making progress," Morris said. "It can't open soon enough."

Improvements to the theater's façade must be completed by July 1 for the Fine Arts Group to be eligible for certain financial incentives associated with the renovation.

Once the theater is open for business again, Morris said its contribution to the downtown district will be invaluable.

"It's one of the biggest pieces of the puzzle," he said. "There are some restaurants down there, but this will be very visible and real important to bringing a lot of people to downtown all at once."

The theater's progress, coupled with anticipated city government activity this summer concerning the east pool, eventually will help stabilize a crowd for downtown businesses, Morris said.

"The east pool will be another asset for the day and evening balance and will get large numbers of people downtown at once," he said. "It will help other retailers to be able to pull from the pool during the day and from the theater at night."

For now, though, Morris says he'll wait for the theater, which he predicts will be one of the downtown scene's most popular attractions.

"We can't wait till it gets open," he said. "We've had tons of people inquire about when it's going to open. We're thrilled to have the progress and it's looking more like a restored theater. It definitely will be a big shot in the arm to downtown once it gets open."