CHARLESTON, Ill. (AP) — Another effort is being made to save the Will Rogers Theater in the central Illinois city of Charleston.
Dave Stevens is a member of the Will Rogers Project. He tells the (Charleston) Journal Gazette and Times-Courier the theater should be auctioned at a sheriff’s sale in December.
Another of the group’s members, Earl Halbe, expects the price to be about $100,000.
Members hope the price will be lower if it goes to a buyer willing to restore it. A previous restoration attempt failed.
The organization is seeking to become a not-for-profit. It is using another nonprofit, the historic Five Mile House, to accept donations in the interim.
Halbe says the group hopes the theater’s future includes community activities as well as movies.