Supporters of the Solvang Festival Theater are posting their memories on a theater wall before parts of the theaters are demolished to allow for rebuilding. There will be one more chance to post memories on Sept. 5.
This isn’t just any wall.
It’s a wall of a theater, where actors go on stage and turn dreams into reality. And its supporters are posting their memories on it.
Supporters of the Solvang Festival Theater are using a wall’s surface to say farewell before the community icon is torn down.
Construction crews will arrive Sept. 13 to start the demolition and rebuilding of this part of the 47-year-old theater.
The project is slated to be completed by July. Residents, businesses and foundations have donated almost 80 percent of the $4.7 million cost to rebuild essential parts of the Solvang Festival Theater.
In anticipation of the closure for rebuilding, Solvang Theaterfest Board members and volunteers decided to cover the wall with decorated picture frames.
Community members can fill the frames with their artwork and writing. Some supporters brought clippings from 1974 newspaper articles describing the opening of the theater, according to a news release.
Others glued photos of loved ones who went to the theater’s plays with them and who played a part in the theater’s history.
On Sept. 5, people can come by the wall one last time to add their memories or post their future dreams. To mark the occasion, Santa Barbara’s Doublewide Kings will perform in the Solvang Theaterfest Patron Garden.
“We are so excited about what the rebuilt theater will bring to our community,” said Ann Foxworthy Lewellen, vice chair of the Theaterfest Board of Directors and chair of the “Imagine — Building the Future!” capital campaign.
“It’s so very moving to read the comments and see the artwork that so many of our patrons have posted on the old wall,” she said in the news release.
For more information go to www.solvangfestivaltheater.org or contact Solvang Theaterfest Executive Director Scott Coe at exec.director@solvangtheaterfest.org.
email: dmason@newspress.com
