Published Thursday, April 6, 2000
Dayton's Bluff dusting off an old theatre
Mary Lynn Smith - Star Tribune
The Mounds Theatre sign that rose above the ornamental brick facade, the movie marquee and poster boards are long gone, leaving a flat-faced stucco building alongside Interstate Hwy. 94.
Inside, remnants of the theatre are buried beneath a jumble of junked typewriters, pipe organ parts, yellowed newspapers and computer pieces. The movie screen is torn and shredded, its black curtain covered with dust. The iron film projectors stand silent.
But when Raeann Ruth walks into the musty 1922 building, she envisions children's theatre productions, community performances, even Saturday matinees. The renovation she proposes would turn the theatre into an arts and cultural center for St. Paul's Dayton's Bluff neighborhood.
Tapping city and private grants, she and other organizers have raised $400,000 of the $750,000 cost. They hope to raise the rest from corporations and private foundations by June, begin construction this summer and open in fall 2001.
"This will be open to everyone but [will be] particularly for the Asian Pacific community who don't have a place to call their own or a place where they feel welcome," said Ruth, founder of Portage for Youth, an after-school and summer program that serves primarily Hmong girls ages 8 to 15.
Neighborhood activists say they expect the renovation to spur other development in the Mounds View business district along Hudson Rd. and Earl St. Nearly half of the dozen buildings there are vacant.
"This takes a building with a history and brings it back to its former glory, if not better," said John Vaughn, community organizer for the Dayton's Bluff Community Council.
Pages from the past
The theatre, at 1029 Hudson Rd., closed in the 1950s. One-time Ramsey County Commissioner George Hardenbergh bought the building about 30 years ago to store his eclectic collections.
"I'm a collector of things that aren't quite all there," said Hardenbergh, 82. "A lot of these things are somebody else's leavings and not worth much to anyone."
Hardenbergh's scrap is stacked on theatre seats, jammed in the lobby and piled in corners: An old phonograph here, a pinball game there. A copper fire extinguisher, snow fences and spotlights scattered about. A player piano near the front, a novachord (an electronic instrument "that's miserable to keep running") in the lobby. And dust everywhere.
"I can find homes for things other people throw out," he said. "It's hard for me to throw things away."
At one time, Hardenbergh thought about fixing up the place, installing a pipe organ for his own "amusement" and hosting organ-club meetings. But the idea fell to the wayside, and the theatre became his warehouse.
Ruth, 50, started considering the boarded-up building as a spot for her community center last year. She had found two other possible locations, but the owners "didn't want to give me the buildings," she said. She persuaded Hardenbergh to meet and talk.
Standing near the second-row balcony seat where she had her first date, she asked him to consider donating the building.
"I guess she got me at a weak moment," Hardenbergh said. "The building's become more of a nuisance for me. I'd like to see it find a good home rather than plow it under."
A new chapter
On Wednesday, Ruth ushered in seven girls from the Portage for Youth program into the theatre for a tour. They walked in and giggled, explored the balcony, then ran down the aisles to the movie screen and back to the lobby.
"Cool," said 10-year-old Mainou Vang.
"Creepy," said 10-year-old Gaoyee Thao.
"It's haunted," said 11-year-old See Thao, ducking in between the others.
"It's messy. It's old. It's dusty," said 14-year-old Lia Thao, who craned her neck as she looked around the lobby. "It's going to be cool. And if we help, it will be lots of fun. We'll have plays, dancing, classes, videos and singing. It will be a safe place."
Bob Raddatz, an Arden Hills contractor, walked around with a flashlight, pointing to things from the past and talking about the possibilities for the future. He picked up a wooden organ pipe and blew a dusty bass note.
"This is the type of theatre I went to when I was young. It was when the community felt smaller," he said. "You knew the people who sold you the ticket and the people who sold you the popcorn."
When Raddatz finishes the renovation, the small screen stage will be expanded into a half-moon performance stage for theatre, dancing and singing. Changing rooms will be added to each side. The balcony will be converted into offices for community groups.
The 600 seats will be reduced to a more spacious 400. An acoustic ceiling will be installed.
"Rather than knock this down, we'll refurbish it. We'll teach [children] the history and let them build their own memories. And then one day they'll walk in and remember the old theatre they refurbished. They will stay, and they will rebuild this neighborhood."
Donations for the Mounds Theatre renovation project can be sent to Portage for Youth, 965 Fremont Av., St. Paul, MN 55106. For information, call 651-772-8674 or click on http://www.daytonsbluff.org
and go to Mounds Theatre Renovation.©Copyright 2000 Star Tribune. All rights reserved.