Toledo’s Wieting Theatre restored to century-ago grandeur

TOLEDO - The brass rails are spit polished, the stage's hardwood floor shines with a new finish and every single seat is brand new. A century after it first opened, The Wieting Theatre, Toledo's showcase opera house in its day, is once again strutting its stuff.

"We're hoping it helps enhance the standing of the entire small town community," says Jim Roan, a Toledo attorney who spearheaded restoration. "There aren't too many free-standing opera houses like this in Iowa."

Indeed, when the curtain is raised for the official grand opening at 2 p.m. on July 1, it will be the original 1912 curtain made in the Minneapolis area that features a pastoral rural scene. And, while the entire opera house was constructed for about $20,000, just the curtain today is valued at more than $100,000.

The $1,361,000 restoration project began in 2008 with the concept followed a year later by fundraising. A Vision Iowa grant and other state funds accounted for $500,000, with $300,000 coming from local and regional sources and another nearly $400,000 from more than 600 local individual and business donors, Jim says. A debt of $175,000 remains, which should be paid off by Jan. 1, 2014.

"We got 100 percent support from everybody," says Jim with a huge smile. "I wanted to make sure everybody was in favor of it."

While the Wieting is in Toledo, he points out that it serves all of southern Tama County.

That was the intent when Ella Wieting had the theater built in honor of her late husband, Phillip. He'd been a dentist and abstracter in Toledo before they returned to their native New York. Ella turned ownership and control of the theater over to the community. A five-member board of trustees and the 14-member theater guild, which Jim helped incorporate in 1960, oversee the theater and 118 volunteers.

Unique in its design, the theater with a huge balcony at the back has a wing stage on either side of the main stage so entertainment can continue non-stop during scenery changes. The early Wieting hosted everything from minstrel shows and political gatherings to a Ku Klux Klan rally and operas. It later became a movie theater, all with just one tiny bathroom.

The restoration upgraded all heating, wiring and plumbing and included the addition of large men's, women's and family restrooms Outside the restrooms, a history wall includes a 1917 ticket for "Uncle Tom's Cabin" that cost 17 cents and a blueprint of what was touted as a 650-seat theater.

"That 650 was exaggerated," Jim says. "It should have been 450. Now we have 300 total seats. As people, we've grown bigger," he laughs.

With only minor work to complete, the theater opened for a 3D movie Feb. 4. It has already hosted a dance recital, gospel show and Republican county convention as well as being the scene for the filming of a high school production. The Iowa Opera House Project, which is putting Iowa talent into century-old venues, makes a stop at 7 p.m. Friday. (For more information see http://wieting.tamatoledo.com)

Jim loves retelling the story of two 10-year old boys conversing at one recent show.

"This used to be an opera house," the first says, to which the second responds, "And it still is."