SHOSHONE, Idaho — The Shoshone Showhouse Theater was awarded $100,000 for preservation. The theater, built in 1911 as an opera house, is on the National Historic Register. The grant is designed to support the restoration and preservation of historic theaters in Idaho’s rural communities.
- Shoshone Showhouse was awarded $100,000 for preservation Idaho Heritage Trust.
- The Theater Preservation Program is administered by Idaho Heritage Trust, and funded by the National Park Service
- The Shoshone Showhouse was one of nine theaters in Idaho to receive grant funding.
(Below is the transcript from the broadcast story)
Terry Zech's family took ownership of the theater in 1985, and regularly ran movie nights.. for three decades.
Terry Zech: "Behind the screen are the original ... the catwalk is back there and it goes way back, and there was dressing rooms there and in the basement. // And the thing I like about 4the theater, is it was built as an opera house and the acoustics are so good in here because they didn't have microphones and everything."
But the screen has been dark for 8 years
Terry Zech: “We did Friday Saturday Monday nights, for 30 years, and in 2015, well, then well everything just went digital, and we're set up for film only, we rent the films, and our projectors re for 1933."
The theater, built in 1911 as an opera house, is on the national historic register.
Now, thanks to a grant from the Idaho Heritage Trust, the Shoshone Showhouse will be able to give the building needed repairs to the roof and masonry.
Jerry Meyers is an architect and on the board of the the Idaho Heritage Trust.
Jerry Meyers: "And an important part of that heritage are the theaters, the socio-economic cultural environments in the downtowns and in the communities, and the rural communities are the ones that sometime get hit the hardest."
And though the grant won't cover new projectors, terry is hopeful this is a step towards one day bringing magic back to the screen.
Terry Zech: "It'll be wonderful, I get people all the time asking me, when you gonna open the theater, they'd volunteer, you know? Let's get it up and going"
