Iowa All Over: Wieting Theatre restored, renovated to original beauty

TOLEDO — For the past 100 years, the Wieting Theatre in Toledo, in Tama County, has served as a place for residents to see a show, catch a movie or watch a performance — from opera to the latest James Bond thriller.

The Wieting opened as an opera house in September 1912. It was a gift from Ella Wieting to the residents of Toledo in memory of her husband, Philip Wieting.

It ultimately was converted into a private theater, said Michelle Evans, treasurer of the Wieting Theatre.

With the boom of movies, the opera house began to fall out of use, according to a history of the theater on display in the building. It closed in November 1958.

In the 1960s, a group of community members came together to revive the Wieting, and the Toledo Community Theatre Guild was formed.

After extensive cleaning, remodeling and installing of new equipment, the theater reopened in September 1960. Since then, it has been operated entirely by its 100 volunteers.

Today, the theater has much of the character it did when it opened in 1912, Evans said.

'It's got a balcony, tiered seating, there's not a bad seat in the house,' she said. 'There's a lot of leg room when you come to watch movies or live performances. It still has the ambience of 1912.'

A 100-year-old hand-painted tapestry made in St. Paul, Minn., serves as the curtain. On either side of the stage, previously faded mosaics were repainted by hand, Evans said.

The auditorium can seat up to 300.

When the building was upgraded, the period seating and colors were restored as closely as possible to when the opera house first opened, Evans said. Fire sprinklers and other safety measures were added to the front half of the building, Evans said.

In total, the restoration cost $1.4 million.

The building was rededicated in 2012, just before the centenary, Evans said. Now, she added, the plan is to renovate the area behind the screen — the stage area.

Today, the theater shows movies every weekend, which keeps the building's lights on. It also hosts a variety of live events including a fine-arts performance series for the past three years with college students and instructors.

The Clinton Street Vocal Quartet will perform at 2 today, for example. The quartet features four University of Iowa professors and will boast holiday music.

In addition, the building is available for rent for weddings, meetings or other events.

'The community between Tama and Toledo, which are towns that touch each other, is about 5,000 population,' Evans noted. 'To have something this beautiful and nice in that small of a town is really wonderful. It's awesome to be able to have movies just two or three weeks after they're released.'

For Evans, the live performances are why she most enjoys the theater.

'I like to see stage performances, whether it's plays or poetry reading which we've also done in the past …

. I love the live musical venues,' she said. 'To be able to drive a couple miles instead of an hour to see top-notch entertainment is wonderful.'

More about the Wieting

What: Wieting Theatre is at

Where: 101 S. Church St., Toledo

For more information: Go to wieting.tamatoledo.com