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The Preserving the heart of a community

Saving historic theatre

Photo courtesy of National Park Service The Historic 1900 Calumet Theatre is significant to historical interpretation of the copper mining era.

CALUMET – The Calumet Theatre Company has spent the past four years working toward a goal of preserving the theater. “It’s not our job to improve the theater,” Calumet Theatre Company President Dan Jamison said. “It’s our job to preserve, interpret and present the theater, and the things in it.” It is not a question of how to improve a heritage site, he said, but rather, how to interpret it.

As a Keweenaw Heritage Site within the Keweenaw National Historical Park (KNHP), both the theatre company and KNHP share a common goal — To preserve and interpret the history of copper mining on Michigan’s Keweenaw Peninsula and beyond. The primary mission of KNHP is to preserve and interpret the nationally significant historical and cultural sites, structures, and districts of the Copper Country, focusing on the story of copper mining. The theater is one element.

Jamison said in the case of the Calumet Theatre, the significance of preserving the historical aspect of the theatre is about historical interpretation. The theatre, as a continuing functioning venue, provides modern entertainment while interpreting how the local population has engaged, and continues to engage, with with their community in a continuum. In the case of the theater, it tells a story of the community’s residents through the decades since the venue opened in 1900. It has continually operated for 125 years.

The theater’s Chandelier Society, which raised the funds to purchase and install a large chandelier in the auditorium to replace one destroyed in a fire in 1918, is an example Jamison sites.

“The mission I see that we have is to build back this beautiful theater, that was put together in 1900, and what we can do to restore everything we can on the building and the skin,” said Jamison.

It does not end there, he said. The theater company also attempts to make sure that it understands what type of music is going to sell tickets.

In this regard, the theater, as will all KNHP heritage sites, is valuable, both to out-of-area visitors and the local residents. The theatre company tries to select shows and events of diverse artistic and cultural that provide all visitors a taste of cultural life in a historic theater in 1900, while providing them modern-era entertainment to immerse them into a deeper experience.

The theater also relies on the Red Jacket Ballroom, which adjoins the first balcony of the theater. Originally referred to as community hall in the building plans, it was equipped with a stage, dressing rooms, as well as a balcony.

Jamison emphasized that the theater, the ballroom, and the entire building, are owned by the village of Calumet. In fact, it is the only municipally-owned theater in the United States. The theater company leases the theater from the village, and both entities share the ballroom space. The ballroom is frequently used by both entities and has been the object of several preservation projects of the theater company.

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