·
A
Theater, Union Made
·
By Jerry Ruff
·
An Article published
by The Sunday Forum on February 26, 1967
·
·
Some people might say that
the laboring man couldn't care less about the theater.
·
·
They might say that.
·
·
But if they said it in
Fargo-Moorhead they'd be wrong. Members of unions in the Fargo-Moorhead Trades
and Labor Assembly have spent hundreds of hours building a theater here in the
past few years. They've done it for virtually no pay, as their gift to the
community.
·
·
Wayne K. (Doc) Candor
estimates that this gift of the labor unions is worth $100,000.
·
·
"These people are
earning $6,000 to $8,000 a year, tops, and about all they can give to is the
United Fund and their church. They could never afford to dig down for something
like this. But they've given their time, and figure it up, it's the same as
money."
·
·
Candor is the owner of
Candor Constructions Co. in Fargo and he's the one who sold the unions on
adopting this project. He's put in hundreds of hours himself, more time that
anyone else, as construction supervisor.
·
·
* * *
·
·
We sat in a restaurant
and drank coffee and talked about the new Fargo-Moorhead Community Theater
which will open Wednesday.
·
·
The play will be
"You Can't Take it With You" and it will open to a house made up of
union members and their wives.
·
·
The following nights,
anybody can come. It will be one of those occasions when the theater splits
billing with what's going on on the stage.
·
·
People will be looking
over a plant which would cost at least $250,000 if you were to go out and buy
it. Besides the donated labor, there have been thousands of dollars of
materials donated by about 70 firms.
·
·
A fund drive, given a
boost by Robert K. Herbst with a $25,000 pledge, poured $70,000 into the
building.
·
And the Theater still
has a tidy debt of upwards of $20,000.
·
·
* * *
·
·
Built in a style
similar to the Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis, the Community Theater has a
thrust stage, about a three-fourths theater-in-the-round effect. It also
has a proscenium stage for special productions, such as musicals.
·
·
It was in 1963 that
plans were announced to build a new theater. Candor and the unions had
just completed construction of a gymnasium for the YMCA's Camp Cormorant,
another gratis job, and Candor was looking for something they could do for
Fargo-Moorhead.
·
·
He heard about the
proposed new theater and he took the idea to the unions.
·
·
"They approved
it. You know, union people are good people. We've got a lot of them
in Fargo-Moorhead," said Candor.
·
·
His next stop was the
Park Board, where he appeared with George Nassif, then president of the
Community Theater's Board, and other theater people. They asked the Park
Board for a site in Island Park, and they got it.
·
·
* * *
·
Nassif, operator of
Nassif Rug Co., sat in his store last week and recalled how it went with the
Park Board. "They liked our plans so well that they were smiling all
around. Even some guys who tend to be pessimistic about things were
smiling."
·
·
The theater got its
site, plus a parking area across the street which will be blacktopped this
summer.
·
·
George pointed to a
corner in his store. "That's been our daytime box office for some
time now." There's an extension telephone from the theater and a
clutter of books and records. The phone rings at Nassif's at the same
time it rings at the theater, so he and his wife, Hazelle, are sure to be
covered on ticket calls. They've been in charge of box office for the
past six years.
·
·
George has been with
the Community Theater for 16 of its 21 years. "Paul Airheart has
been with the theater ever since it started," said George.
"Don't forget to mention Airheart in your story. He's building
coordinator of the theater, and he's worked very hard."
·
·
"And don't forget
(board member) Delos Atkinson. He fell 11 feet while putting up
wallboard. Laid him up in the hospital for about a month.
·
·
"And my
wife. She's put in a hundred hours in ticket work on every show for the
last six or seven years. I think she's getting tired. Better give
her a mention."
·
·
* * *
·
·
What about the
theater. What does he think of it? "It's like a dream come
true," said Nassif, who carries the title of active president emeritus
after acting in 30 Community Theater productions and working in various
capacities -- sets, props -- in all of the others.
·
·
He's been in plays in
the old Fargo Arena, a remodeled church, in school auditoriums, both college
and high school; in the old Fargo auditorium, and in service clubs as the
Community Theater shifted from home to home like Orphan Annie, wide-eyed but
crafty.
·
·
And also drafty.
Nassif can remember rehearsing at the unheated arena when it was below zero
outside. They spoke their lines from between chattering teeth, huddled in
overcoats, overshoes and hats.
·
·
Now, they'll have
their home, and it'll be warm in the winter and cool in the summer.
According to Doc Candor the building has a $60,000 heating and air conditioning
system, but you can believe that it did not cost the theater that kind of
money.
·
·
Using the
heating-cooling system as an example of donated materials, Candor estimates it
cost about $3,500.
·
·
One of the
gifts: Three furnaces valued at $6,000 from a Minneapolis manufacturer
who heard about how the unions were building the theater. "This guy
said, %u2018if the unions can do a thing like that, the least I can do is throw
in the furnaces.' " said Candor.
·
·
This is the way it has
been. Gifts of materials have come from points as far-flung as Tucson,
Arizona and New York City.
·
·
* * *
·
·
·
President of the
theater board this year, and a guiding force in the crash effort to complete
the building is Ralph Rudrud, Fargo insurance executive.
·
·
While the theater has
been under construction since the fall of 1964, work had been spasmodic until
this past summer. There were lots of problems throughout 1965.
·
·
But come spring of
1966 and the consensus was "now or never."
·
·
Since last May the
board of directors has met every two weeks in its efforts to ramrod the project
through.
·
·
"We've had our
differences, a lot of problems to overcome," said Rudrud, "but we're
sailing along now and we're going to have a theater that the community can be
proud of."
·
·
Rudrud said the crash
program to finish the building was needed if Community Theater was going to
have a season this year. "We couldn't offer season tickets and then
not have a season.
·
·
"This was the
only way to finish up. Set a goal and work for it. So we scheduled
four plays, You Can't Take it With You, A Man for all Seasons, Barefoot in the
Park and Witness for Prosecution. They'll run in March, April, May and
June respectively. That's pushing it, I know, but I think it can be
done."
·
·
Directing "You
Can't Take it With You" is James Wallace of the Guthrie Theatre.
"The Guthrie people have been very cooperative with us, given us a lot of
advice and help," aid Rudrud.
·
·
Wallace, an actor and
director, had to return to the Guthrie this past week to get started on the season
there, so Mike Lien took over the directorial chores until Wallace returns for
the opening.
·
·
Lien, publicity
manager for the theater and a man with lots of facts at the tips of his
fingers, will tell you that the theater was designed by Tom Koehnlein, now in
the Army.
·
·
Koehnlein was a
student in architecture at North Dakota State University in 1963 and he did the
theater design as a thesis for his master's degree. This was an angle
worked out by the theater board and Candor & Co. in cooperation with Professor
of Architecture Knute Henning and several local architects and engineers who
provided drawing and plans based on Koehnlein's design.
·
·
This is the kind of
wheeling and dealing that has gone on from the very first.
·
·
Although
"wheeling and dealing" may be terms too crass to describe the
unselfish work that has gone into building the theater, they do somewhat
describe the romance and excitement of the whole thing.
·
·
"You Can't Take
It with You." That's true. But you can leave something behind
for others to enjoy.
|