H.J. Ricks Centre For The Arts is undergoing a remodeling project. Close to 400 seats will be replaced and the entire floor will be resurfaced.
GREENFIELD — It will be tough finding a seat at the H.J. Ricks Centre for the Arts this summer.
All the old seats have been removed and the theater has been closed until next month when 390 new seats will be delivered and installed.
The deep-red cloth seats with gray backs feature comfortable cushions and cup holders designed to enhance the patron experience.
“We are very optimistic that everything will be complete by the end of August and theater events will resume in September,” said Sandra Miller, president of the Friends of the Theater nonprofit that supports the historic theater.
While the theater is empty, the flooring is being refinished and new carpet is being installed in the aisles.
“They’re going to repair it, sand it down and smooth out the rough spots, even along the back hallway leading to the back door,” said theater manager Tony Seiler, who noted that the new walkway carpeting will consist of carpet squares, which will be easier to replace if one becomes damaged.
The new seating will also be a major upgrade, said Seiler, and will number four more than the theater had before.
Some of the new seats will be handicapped accessible, and some will be removable to make room for wheelchairs. The seating also includes 100 seats with hideaway desk platforms, which can accommodate guests attending conferences or work sessions, said Miller, who thinks the new seats are as beautiful as they are comfortable.
“They have cast iron, art deco ends at the end of each row, so they really pick up the art deco theme of the theater,” she said.
Seiler said the previous seats were purchased around 2004 and came from a Lowes movie theater.
To offset the cost of the new seats, Friends of the Theater has been promoting its Have a Seat campaign, in which patrons can sponsor a seat for a $250 donation, which includes a personalized plaque on the back of a seat.
Miller said about 60 of the new seats have been sponsored so far, and that plenty of seats with naming rights are still up for grabs.
A similar seat sponsorship campaign was held about 20 years ago, said Miller, and the names from those plaques will be carried over to the new seats.
“People made an investment in the theater then, and we want to make sure their investment continues to be recognized,” she said.
In addition to patron donations, Miller said the current flooring and seating renovation is being funded through a collaborative effort between the Hancock County Visitors Bureau, Friends of the Theater and a grant from the Allen Whitehill Clowes Charitable Foundation.
“Lots of people have made donations and they really add up. This is an amazingly generous community. There are a lot of patrons of the arts and people who love the Ricks theater, so this has been a big group community effort,” she said.
Seiler said Miller also made a sizable personal donation to make the seating projection possible.
“I am in the phase of my life where it’s time to give back, and I have a huge passion for community theaters,” said Miller, who lives in Greenfield.
She’s been a regular patron at the Ricks since she watched movies there as a teenager in the 1960s.
Miller has a special fondness for historic community theaters built in the 1920s, ’30s and ’40s, and makes a point to visit them wherever she goes, whether it’s attending a play or concert or simply peeking inside.
“They are part of the history of our culture. So many of us grew up watching old movies in these small theaters, and I love that they have been repurposed and reused and have been really embraced by a lot of communities. I think the Ricks is a real crown jewel in our downtown community,” she said.
The new seats are yet another stop in the ongoing renovations supported by Friends of the Theater.
“We recently repaired the front entryway and are looking at saving enough money to get a new projector and new screen so we can play old movies,” said Seiler, who took over managing the theater at the start of 2022.
Since then, he’s increased bookings and events at the theater substantially, which has helped cover the cost of running and maintaining the aging theater.
“We definitely still have a long way to go. The bills are pretty expensive. We just got two new furnaces that were well overdue and still have three furnaces that need to be replaced, and the (air-conditioning) needs to be worked on,” he said.
“We also need to change out our old lighting to LEDs because they take a lot of power and are expensive to run, but it all takes money. Necessary improvements haven’t been done in a while, so we have some catching up to do,” said Seiler.
When the Friends of the Theater board meets next week, they may decide if and when to host an official dedication ceremony for the newly renovated theater.
In the meantime, Miller hopes both new and existing patrons will check out the full lineup of events scheduled to be held at the historic theater in the coming months.
For a full schedule of upcoming events, visit RicksCentre.com.
To learn more about Friends of the Theater or to sponsor a seat through the Save a Seat campaign, visit HCTheaterFriends.org.
