Current Season Information BARN Campaign Ticket Information
Board of Directors Volunteers History Map and Local Links
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The arts are booming.
Attendance at arts events is on the rise.
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The Omaha Symphony's attendance was up almost 10 percent in the 1999-2000 season.
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The Phantom of the Opera played to more than 73,000 people in 28 Omaha performances.
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An Omaha Joslyn Art Museum exhibit of Chihuly glass "smashed" previous attendance records.
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The Lincoln Community Playhouse attracted nearly 37,000 people to its productions during the 1999-2000 season.
Closer to home, the Lofte Community Theatre season amazingly draws 10,000 people annually to 44 performances! While the Lofte Community Theatre has demonstrated drawing power among arts organizations, it is unique.
The Lofte Community Theatre is operated by southeast Nebraskans, for southeast Nebraskans, utilizing the talent of southeast Nebraskans. It has been that way since 1977, and as the quarter-century mark approaches for the theater, the time has come to realize the Lofte's full potential.
The Lofte Community Theatre is operated by a group of dedicated volunteers who put in at least 15,000 hours (total) of work each year. The board of directors has developed a plan to build a permanent home that will establish the theater as the cultural center of southeast Nebraska.
A barn, reflecting the remarkable community heritage of the Lofte, will be built as a permanent home for the theater. Unlike the charming but often uncomfortable barn that now houses performances, the planned theater barn will be able to host events virtually any time of the year.
Plans are to make it flexible and useful in other ways. It will serve as a community center providing space for receptions, reunions and meetings. It will host art exhibits, and serve as a locale for drama and music students to showcase their talents in addition to being the region's center for the theater arts.
The Lofte Community Theatre's $85,000 annual budget is well managed, yet it does not provide the funds needed to build a new, permanent facility. For that, the theater needs "Barn Raisers" who can support this community project because they love the region and its people.
Arts serve to lift the spirit and enhance the quality of life. Through the Bringing the Arts to Rural Nebraska - BARN Raising Campaign, you are invited to help develop the quality of life here, lifting the Lofte Community Theatre to new heights, giving the arts a greater presence, and helping your neighbors to serve our families as they develop in an area rich with experiences.
THE PLAN
The Lofte Community Theatre's board of directors plans to build, own and operate a community theater that increases its contribution both to the arts in the area and serves as a center for community betterment and regional spirit.
The Site
The directors have purchased 10 acres of land one mile to the northwest of the current Lofte Community Theatre's leased barn on Highway 1.
The site is one of several studied in recent years. Others were discarded because they failed to meet all of the board's criteria regarding ownership and access, or because they did not conform with the county's laws, plans and requirements.
The site chosen meets all of the directors' and the county's requirements for a theater building and associated parking.
The Facility
The building will maintain the traditional appearance of a barn, and it
will be a modern working theater space. Every effort is being made to
maintain the rustic barn atmosphere patrons currently enjoy.
Ayars and Ayars is a design and general contracting service hired to build
the new Lofte. The company has worked on the York College Chapel renovation
as well as several other projects in and around the Omaha and Lincoln area.
The space will include a stage that is 25 by 60 feet wide with a proscenium.
The auditorium will contain seating for approximately 380. Additional space
will be designed in the auditorium area for a sound and lighting board to
control complex theater production techniques.
The theater will be equipped with a flexible lighting system, and a
professional sound system. Curtains, seats and a silent heating/air
conditioning system are to be included.
When funds allow, separate (but close to the barn) outbuildings for costume,
prop and set storage will be built. These will be lower-cost structures with
facades that will give the property a "farmstead" look and feel. Keeping
this storage separate from the theater itself will reduce utility bills and
will allow for more storage.
In the "barn," the lobby or foyer will be large enough to comfortably
accommodate the audience and will contain enough space to mount visual art
exhibits by area artists. There also will be a concession area. Restrooms
are planned for the lobby area as well.
An all-weather facility will allow a more flexible performance schedule,
helping to avoid holiday periods that have a negative effect on ticket
sales, such as Memorial Day, Independence Day and Labor Day. It also will
allow a year-round schedule including the Lofte-produced shows plus a
variety of other performance/visual arts productions. Children's theater
troupes, theater caravans, musical groups, and art shows are examples of
attractions that can use the facility, thus providing a year-round revenue
stream.
The estimated cost of a new Lofte Community Theatre is approximately $1.5
million.
THE NEED
There are many reasons why the Lofte Community Theatre urgently needs a new home:
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The theater is being used at the pleasure of the owner. While there is no indication that the current owner of the Lofte Community Theatre barn has plans to terminate the lease, he has the right to do so, or to sell to another person who could terminate the lease. It does not make sense to invest in improvements to a facility that is not owned by the organization.
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The current home is a barn. It is "theatrical" to enter a barn and find 280 seats packed inside; however, as it is a barn, there has been no design for good acoustics, structural soundness, customer comfort, rehearsal or shop space.
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Space is limited. There is not adequate space for rehearsals, costume making, storage or set-building.
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There is a need for temperature control. Lack of temperature control is a major drawback for both actors and audiences. Spring and fall productions often experience uncomfortably cool weather. Humid, breezeless summer nights mean actors may concentrate as much on controlling their discomfort as their performances. While audiences potentially have to endure four evenings of unpleasant temperature, performers have to suffer throughout numerous set building sessions, rehearsals and shows.
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The performers need a larger, post-free stage. Today's stage is 12 feet deep, about as wide as the average bedroom. Musicals, particularly, are handicapped by lack of on-stage space. The presence of two structural posts at the front of the stage not only limit sight lines, but limit the type of visiting performances that can be staged.
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The theater needs to comply with current safety codes. This is important for the safety of patrons and actors. The current barn is "grandfathered" regarding code compliance.
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The theater needs to meet the standards of grant making institutions. The state, for example, commonly supports theaters of this type with grants to help underwrite costs, but only when the building meets codes regarding handicapped seating. The current building does not meet code standards.
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Scheduling is difficult in the current facility. The new facility will allow the theater's volunteer actors and craftspeople to schedule construction and rehearsals more efficiently, reducing the time burden on the volunteers.
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The new theater will be a showplace for southeast Nebraska. The theater will maintain the rural and small-town flavor of the region in a way that celebrates the company's efforts to develop quality arts offerings.
THE BENEFITS OF THE
BARN RAISING CAMPAIGN
The result of the BARN Raising Campaign will be a new theater that is the pride of southeast Nebraska.
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The facility will Bring Arts to Rural Nebraska.
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The building will be handsome in design, without losing the flavor of the company's rural heritage.
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Building the theater will result in construction jobs, and local purchases of building supplies.
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The Lofte Community Theatre will be able to offer even more polished productions.
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The audience will be able to see better, hear better and sit more comfortably, in heated or air conditioned surroundings when needed.
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The cast will be able to schedule rehearsals in ways that permit talented people who can't spare the time required by the current rehearsal schedule to participate.
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The backstage crew will have a "shop" in which to build even better sets for the productions.
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The actors will be able to make costume changes in a dressing room; not a parking lot.
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The orchestra will have a space in which to play.
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The staff and administration of the Lofte will have the right to compete for state funding of the arts to help underwrite costs.
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The board of directors expects the stage to be used by visiting arts groups. Children's theater, theater caravans, art shows and live-music performances are examples of visiting groups who could use the facility. The Lofte plans to schedule at least two more productions or events each year from various sources.
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Area schools required to host conference music and drama competitions will have an ideal location to stage their events.
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People with disabilities will have a handicapped-accessible theater where they can enjoy the entertainment in comfort.
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The theater's stage area, when not in use by others, will provide the community with space that can accommodate up to 150 people for receptions and meetings.
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Families will have a venue where they can enjoy and explore the arts without concern regarding the wholesomeness of the experience.
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The theater will enhance the reputations of those who are associated with it, as sponsors, donors, actors, audience or neighbors.
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Additional tourism dollars will flow into the area as visitors from across the region attend performances.
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Above all, the setting for quality theatre will enhance the spirit of southeast Nebraska, making the region more attractive not only for those now growing up here, but for future residents who come to live and work in the region.
THE BARN RAISING CAMPIAGN
BRINGING ARTS TO RURAL NEBRASKA
The board of directors of the Lofte Community Theatre have initiated the BARN Raising Campaign to Bring Arts to Rural Nebraska. A group of area residents are volunteering their time and resources to improve cultural opportunities for all residents of Cass County and the surrounding areas.
The co-chairs of the campaign are Chuck and Marilyn Spohr, and Doug and Jean Wymore.
Ways to Make a Gift
Pledges of support may be made for payment over a five-year period and are expected to be the most common way to contribute to the campaign.
There are many other ways to contribute, some are listed here.
-- Stocks and Bonds -- Antiques
-- Mutual Funds -- Art Pieces
-- Wills and Bequests -- Trusts
-- Life Insurance -- U.S. Savings Bonds
-- Real Estate -- Pensions
-- Livestock -- Coin/Stamp Collections
-- Grain -- Crop Revenues
Anything of appreciated value which is owned by the contributor may be donated. The impact of the gift on taxes may vary according to the kind of item donated and the tax status of the donor. Consult an accountant or tax advisor in discussing these details.
Donor Recognition
Contributors to the BARN Raising Campaign will receive personal satisfaction from knowing that they have helped ensure continued access to quality performing arts in the area.
Beyond that, each donor will receive acknowledgment of their gifts. All gifts to the BARN Raising Campaign will be recognized.
Names of all donors, regardless of the donation size will be placed in a book of honor displayed at the theater. Names of donors giving $1,000 or more will be placed on a Wall of Honor in the theater. Names of major donors can be placed in designated areas of the theater, if the donor so desires.
