Graham Jaehnig/DMG After several years of setbacks, the furnace replacement project at the Calumet Theatre is finally underway.

CALUMET — If the past year is an indication, the Calumet Theatre is once again bringing people to the village that bears its name. In addition, while the theater is reaching out to the community, the community is responding.

Over the theater’s past fiscal year, it has seen significant increases in the number of shows and performances, increases and attendance, as well as increases in donations, contributions and sponsorships.

At the Annual Calumet Theatre Company Membership meeting Monday, Nathan Jones, director of operations told the Theatre Company Board said that while a number of shows over the past year have presented struggles and challenges, he has seen the community come together more so than in the past.

“They have made donations and contributions,” he said.

Among them is a significant donation of several thousand dollars recently made to the theater.

Thanks to a monetary donation from a theater patron, a new movie projector was installed earlier this year, as well as another donation of live stream cameras that have been used frequently.

“Any time that we’ve have a school event like school plays,” said Jones, “we’ve been live streaming those and putting the link out there for family and friends to watch.”

The Summer Concert Series has also attracted large numbers of people. While the concerts have been free to attend, free-will donations brought far more revenue than was expected.

“We had some really great talent that really didn’t cost us any money out-of-pocket per se,” Jones said. While the donations were used to pay the artists, moving forward, Jones said he would like to the Theatre seek sponsors for the free concert series.

“We’re putting people in seats, so those people are going to see the sponsors’ advertisements,” said Jones.

Another project tackled this year, by two volunteers, Kathy and Jeff Ihde, was the renovation and updating of the dressing rooms beneath the stage. Jeff has also taken on the restoration of the projection room, located above the first balcony.

“The projection room will then become part of our self-guided tours,” Jones said. “We’ll have all the videos done and the brochures printed.”

Jones said the self-guided tours should be operational by the beginning of 2025.

Theatre Company President Dan Jamison provided an overview of the theater’s performance over the previous three years, including a $15,000 donation from Keweenaw Health Foundation for the project to replace the chandelier in the auditorium that was destroyed in a fire in 1918, along with replacing a heating boiler that failed several years ago.

“We finally got approval from SHPO (State Historic Preservation Office) to enter into the contract,” Jamsison said.

Marty Trevathan, of Hancock, who was awarded the contract, received payment last week to order the boiler and equipment.

“It’s already on pallets,” said Jamison. “He’s driving down to Alpena to pick it up with his trailer.”

Jamison said Trevathan will store the equipment until a time when the stage is not occupied and the parts can be lowered into the theater basement.

While the theater has had a full calendar season, providing accommodations for performers has contributed several thousand dollars to the local economy in hotel fares and restaurants.

“It’s been a learning year, and there’s still more to do,” Jones said, “but I see us moving in a positive direction.”