Community offers support for Milton Theatre
The Milton Theatre has sat vacant for the last 19 months, but theater volunteers are making another push to reacquire the building.
The board of directors is urging residents, supporters, elected officials and civic organizations to write letters to Delaware Community Investment Corporation to show how important the Union Street theater is to the community. Board president Maryellen Davis said the board is trying to convince DCIC to negotiate a price to re-purchase the building.
“They are moving very slowly,” she said. “We don't know what they're waiting for. We hoped to hear something from them; at least how much they want for it. Then that could be a place to begin negotiations, and we could start a fundraising campaign and start to get people excited with a goal to reach for.”
And while not much progress has been made with DCIC, a meeting will be held at 10:30 a.m., Saturday, June 16, to provide a status update, share the business plan and answer the community's questions about the theater.
“They really deserve an update, even though we don't have any hard facts,” Davis said.
Davis said she's heard a number of unfounded rumors, such as the building is no longer environmentally safe, and wants to use the meeting to set the record straight.
DCIC is the consortium of banks that held the mortgage on the theater building before foreclosing on the property in 2009. A subsidiary of DCIC bought the theater at sheriff's sale for $282,500 in 2010 and still owns the building. Theater officials and community supporters have tried several times to negotiate with the bank to buy back the property, but negotiations stalled each time.
Davis said the top goal right now is reacquiring the building from the bank. To help convince DCIC to begin negotiations again, Davis has started a letter-writing campaign and has received letters of support from Gov. Jack Markell, Sussex County Councilwoman Joan Deaver, the town's economic development committee and the Milton Chamber of Commerce, among others. Residents and theater supporters are encouraged to write letters and send them to MDC110@verizon.net.
Support for the theater is alive and well in the community. Milton artist Libby Zando is donating a portion of sales from three local art shows. Photographs from the Milton Art Guild are on display in the Milton Theatre's office windows at 107 Union St., “Perennial Favorites: Zando and Buds” opened May 24 and will run for two months at the Cordrey Center in Millsboro, and “Inner Visions” at Ocean Medical Imaging on Federal Street will run through Monday, June 30.
The theater will also continue hosting the annual Broadkill River Canoe & Kayak Race Saturday, Aug. 25, which also serves as a fundraiser.
Donald Shandler, a former member of the town's EDC, worked with the theater in the past and said it is an important landmark for Milton that could boost the local economy if reopened.
“It could really create some traffic downtown,” he said. “Until that happens, Main Street Milton is going to limp along.”
While traveling with his wife in Florida, he said, they visited Fort Pierce and Stuart, two towns that have gone through recent revitalization. In both cases, a theater played an integral role.
At a townwide meeting held by Milton Speaks in April, the theater was identified as the No. 2 issue facing the town. Residents also believed reopening the theater could solve other issues facing the town, such as supporting new and existing businesses and offering youth activities.
“We were exhilarated to see everybody did support us,” Davis said.
