A lot must happen to transform Newton's historic Fox Theater into a modern conference center. And it'll cost some money.The city, which owns the Main Street building, recently received a cost estimate from Prigmore, Krievins, Haines, Lim—n Architects. The cost of the renovation is estimated at $543,000.

Newton city commissioners met Tuesday with Virgil Penner of the Newton Area Chamber of Commerce for a work session to discuss funding options.  City officials tried to find out whether the chamber remains interested in the proposal. The chamber would move its offices into the front of the old theater if the project is completed.

"The question that really has to be asked is, 'Is this facility going to be valuable to the community?' I don't know if the chamber really wants it," Penner said. "If it's going to have valuable contributions to the community, then I think the chamber would do it for the betterment of the facility and the betterment of the community.  "But if you're just looking at doing this for the chamber's sake, I don't think it's a viable option," he said.

Like other city projects, the Fox will compete for funds. One way to fund it, City Manager Jim Heinicke said, is to use the bed tax.  The city collects taxes on hotel rooms. The money is broken into two groups. The chamber receives the first $75,000 of the collected tax. The city gets the next $35,000.  If the bed tax is used for the Fox, however, it couldn't be used for the park and recreation complex.  "That's one way you could finance that, but you have to choose what your priorities are," Heinicke said.  Commissioner Todd Loescher asked Penner if chamber leaders would vote to approve a move to the Fox.

"I think that we have people in the whole spectrum. They're scattered," Penner said. "Nothing in the middle really to say how the Chamber board would vote one way or the other."  Heinicke said the bed tax is the only current possibility to fund the project.  "If we put all the bed tax in here, we could make it work," he said. "Otherwise, you're going to have a hard time with it."

At Tuesday's commission meeting, the bed tax was approved to be put toward the park and recreation facility.  Discussion will continue on the possibility of transforming the Fox. 

Home     Theaters     Articles     Links     Contact Me

Movie House History - Classic Theaters Of Kansas © 2007
Photographs and text on this site are copyright by their respective holders.

This site is part of the ReelDiaries.com network.

Site Designed & Maintained by Paul Salley of WebTitan Productions.