West Bend Theatre

Added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2020:

West Bend, WI: West Bend Theater Added to National Register of Historic Places [Sep 21, 2020]

The plan to restore the WEST BEND Theatre has been in the works since 2017, when nonprofit group Historic West Bend Theatre, Inc. purchased the building for $250,000 and went public with a capital campaign for the project. The project will include a new heating and ventilating system, new roof, revamped electrical and plumbing systems, new sound and video equipment, IT systems, new restrooms, an enlarged stage, new seating on the main floor and balcony and the addition of an art deco-style bar. The 600-seat theater opened in downtown West Bend in 1929 and showed films until it closed in 2006. The renovated building will include 120 seats on the main floor and 200 in the balcony. Previous proposals to gut all but the building’s facade were met with opposition from the West Bend community. The West Bend Theatre vertical sign has been removed for restoration. “This is a very rare event that takes place, where an entire city and town can come together and recreate history,” said Nic Novaczyk, president of HWBT, at the groundbreaking ceremony. “This has been an identifying mark for West Bend for decades and decades and decades. It’s just been such a joy and privilege to watch it in its early stages start to come back to life. And I think over the next six, eight, nine months of construction, we’re really going to see something special.” HWBT has raised about $2.1 million from private sources, including West Bend Mutual Insurance, National Exchange Bank & Trust, area foundations and individual donors. The organization has also submitted applications for about $1.1 million in tax credits and other grants. The group will continue fundraising throughout the year. HWBT organizers envision the restored theater serving as an all-purpose community facility, hosting showings of classic movies, musical performances, comedy acts, corporate events and weddings. “It’s multi-purpose; we want it to do all kinds of things,” said John Torinus, a HWBT board member and chairman of Serigraph Inc. “We want the public to feel they own this theater. We want it full five or six days a week.” HWBT initially expected the restoration work to take a year to complete, but the group said it could move more quickly than for completion by the end of 2019. MSI General is the general contractor for the project. Sub-contractors include Steiner Electric, Albiero Plumbing and Affordable Environmental Technologies. HWBT’s board also plans to hire an executive director in June. Until now, HWBT has been a volunteer effort, led by the group’s 18-person board.

I was the projectionist old theater from 1967 till I was drafted to the US Army in 1969. At that time it was just one screen with old projection booth at the high upper level above and behind the upper balcony. One reel lasted about 15 to 18 minutes, then I would chance over to another projector for the next reel. Carbon Arc provide the light. Most movies averaged about 5 to 6 reels. The movie Ten Commandments and Grand Prix, to name a few, had 10 reels with intermissions. Some of the other movies that I ran were, Bonnie and Clyde, A Man For All Seasons, Cool Hand Luke, Valley Of the Dolls. Elvis Presley movies, Clam Bake, Viva Las Vegas and Riverboat Show. All of which were first run movies at that time. I enjoyed the job until Uncle Sam required my services in the Viet Nam Theater in 1970 to 1971. I often think of those times at the old theater.

Two competing plans have surfaced with interest in the historic vacant WEST BEND Theatre. The preservationists are with the nonprofit Historic West Bend Theatre, trying to convince city officials and others about its plans to renovate the theatre as a venue for concerts, dance recitals and weddings seating around 400 people, said Scott Georgeson, HWBT’s project architect who operates Orchestra Design Studio in Milwaukee. The renovated WEST BEND Theatre would preserve the building’s stage, he said, with movable seating that would allow for both live performances as well as weddings and other banquet-style events. That flexibility would keep the venue as active as possible and create more opportunities to earn revenue for the building’s operator, he said.

Historic West Bend Theatre is led by Lisa Rowe, an associate lecturer of communications-theater arts at University of Wisconsin-Washington County in West Bend. HWBT was organized in Spring of 2016 and needs to raise an estimated $1 million to $2 million for its proposal, Georgeson said.

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Meanwhile, others want to demolish the WEST BEND Theatre while preserving the façade (including the marquee) as an entry into a new park and outdoor amphitheater on the former auditorium footprint, and that group claims it’s nearly raised the $700,000 it says is needed for that project. Mike Husar is leading the effort; he’s an owner of Husar’s House of Fine Diamonds next door to the WEST BEND Theatre, which opened in 1929, ended films about 10 years ago, then was sold to Ascendant Holdings LLC, a real estate development and investment group co-owned by West Bend native Matthew Prescott.

Husar claims the park/amphitheater project would bring more life to downtown and cost less than reusing the theatre. Milwaukee-based Zimmerman Architectural Studios Inc. is involved in the Husar group which Husar said has been working on the park/amphitheater plan for about a year.

The WEST BEND Theatre’s owner is avoiding the public controversy. “I don’t think we prefer a certain proposal,” said a representative of building owner Ascendant Holdings. “The important thing to us is that its next owner has a good long-term plan that they can actually follow through on and benefit the entire downtown area.”

Walked by the old Mermac Theater today with parents. The entrance now leads to several different rooms, but they haven’t done much with the place according to the guy that was sitting on the stoop outside. There’s a small alley way with a door on the south side of the building which my dad said led to the projection room. The price for the West Bend theatre is listed on the marquee outside and above the main doors!

According to the December 21, 1929 issue of Exhibitors Herald-World, the West Bend Theatre was designed by A.S. Graven, Inc.

Hello :)
I hace many things to say. First, I love live theatre, and second I am very interested in early cinema. I would love to salvage this theatre, and reconstruct it as a live-action theatre. Please join my cause “Save the West Bend Cinema” on facebook if you have it. Also, I live in West Bend and just today went to the address 224 N. 6th St. It doesn’t exitst! It goes straight from 220 to 228 :( I am in love with this page,a nd thank you all for all of the information and stories you all posted!

Does anybody know what became of the Mermac Theatre at West Bend? Long operated by August Berkholtz, owner of the West Bend Theatre, it was a ca.1913 house, remodeled in 1938, and fitted with CinemaScope in 1954. After that it vanishes. here’s an article about the remodeling in Boxoffice of October 15, 1938.

Now on loopnet for $250,000

The West Bend was operated by Wisconsin Amusements Corp. in the early sixties.

Whatever became of that nice man who took tickets back in the 80s. He was tall (to me then) and had dark hair, actually I think he was pretty bald.

Sadly, the West Bend closed on 11/22/06 after being in operation for 77 years.

Where’s the listings for movies at the West Bend Theatre?