Graham Jaehnig/Daily Mining Gazette Calumet Theatre Company Board Chairman Dan Jamison stepped down from his position last week.

CALUMET – Calumet Theatre Company Board Chairman Dan Jamison stepped down from his position last week, saying the five-year plan is complete. Jamison said he came to the Board in 2020 as a turn-around specialist. The theater has turned around, and the turn-around specialist doesn’t go on to run to the company, he said.

“He sets the company up to be successful, for the staff to be successful, and move forward with the vision that has evolved with community standards over the five years,” he said. “It’s been a five-year turnaround mission and the turnaround mission is complete.”

The theater’s board is now positioned to move forward at an accelerated pace in meeting the standards the community has come to expect.

The theater has come a long way since it was closed in 2020, he said. When the turn-around Board was elected, there were no funds, no shows, no employees, all compounded by a negative public image in the minds of the community. As one theater member commented, the ballroom was serving as a storage facility for worn out non- working restaurant equipment.

“With determination, a number of us were able to cause a change in the Theatre Company management,” the member said. “In a few years, there was an incredible turn-around to a positive public image. With significant new supporters the Theatre Company became financially healthier than it had been for generations.”

The theater celebrated its 125th anniversary early last year, Jamison said, with a history of cream-of-the-crop headliners and shows, in a time when there was significant disposable wealth in the region.

“Now,” he said, “there is less disposable income, but there are many more grant, donor, sponsorship and bequest opportunities.”

Those income sources have allowed quality shows and events but not at painfully expensive tickets.

“Our job is to provide maintenance and to provide use of a beautiful community asset,” he said.”So, if you refer to the increase in donors, sponsorships, bequests and memberships, I think that allow us to present content to the community closer to at-cost pricing. Because, otherwise, people could only afford to go to one show a year.”

Membership has increased, and so have higher tiered members, he said.

“Remember; you can have a membership for $35,” he said. “Many people pay $2,500 – $3,000 for a membership, not because of all the alleged perks, but because they know it’s going to a good cause.”

Much of that came as a result of installing Zoom equipment to provide virtual access anywhere in the world, he said.

“Hopefully, it was members, but it was also other people who became interested and gave us sponsorships,” he said. “But, Zoom also provided 100% transparency to everything the Board did.”

With streaming Board meetings via Zoom, he said, people can attend them virtually, see what the Board is accomplishing, and ask how to contribute. Next was finding additional funding sources.

“We started finding, and aggressively writing grants,” he said. “Heritage grants, Michigan Arts and Culture Council (MACC) grants, State Historic Preservation Organization (SHPO) grants, that help not only the building, but also the operation of the building. The MACC grants help operational grants like salaries and so forth. That helped us bring back the right number of people to do the heavy lifting.”

Moving forward, the Board will work on a succession plan and strategic plan, Jamison said.

“That’s the typical stuff that comes with leadership change, anyway, because it’s on them to create a new five-year plan. Now, they have the stability, the resources and etcetera, to move forward,” he said. “Something simple like the heating system is going to have an incredible impact effect on maintaining the structure, maintaining and repairing the plaster work, but also the ability to present shows in the late fall and early winter, when people really need to come out socially to events.”