November 17, 2017
Dear Grand Theater Booster,
Later this month, the Grand Theater will mark its second anniversary! Since opening, the response from our community has been excellent. Many have told us how much they appreciate having a modern, clean, and affordable theater showing first run films, specials, festivals, and live entertainment so close to home. Many more have been vocal in their appreciation of the effort expended by the entire community in reopening their childhood movie house for their children or grandchildren.
During the first two years the Grand Theater has hit several milestones, learned a lot and enjoyed several positive developments, a few of which I would like to share with you. Given the timing of this letter the statistics quoted are a couple of weeks shy of two full years – and there are still two blockbusters yet to play this month!
Since the Grand Theater opened, three new restaurants and a new pub have also opened on or near the square, altogether bringing a welcome vibrancy to Downtown - especially evident in the evenings and on weekends. When you consider all this new investment – including the recent Streetscape and Infrastructure Project – it’s safe to say Downtown Knoxville is seeing a resurgence and we’re proud to be doing our part to build a brighter future for our community.
The Grand Theater strives to engage a wide audience by programming a regularly changing selection of titles and different genres appealing to many diverse tastes. In addition to blockbuster action or comedy films, we also program dramas and occasional art titles that aren’t widely shown elsewhere in Iowa. We encourage the community to sample all our different offerings, not just the super-hero or outer space features. It is challenging operating just two auditoriums within the constraints of the American cinema industry that dictates when films are available and how long they must run, but we’re always open to suggestions about new and old titles to screen – please let me know what you’d like to see.
We try to accommodate the various needs of our audience, including patrons with physical disabilities. For patrons with a hearing impairment we offer headsets to boost the volume or closed caption devices to read the dialogue. Visually impaired patrons can use a headset with many new films to hear an audio description of what is happening on the screen. We have expanded the number of wheelchair location in the downstairs auditorium – no longer just the first or last rows. Also, every week we flip the films from upstairs to downstairs and vise-versa enabling patrons to see all our movie titles in their preferred theater – avoiding the stairs should they desire or viewing a movie in the more intimate upstairs auditorium.
Volunteers continue to be integral to serving theater patrons and performing maintenance, but seasons change, schedules fill up, and time gets tight. Of the 359 registered volunteers there are only about two dozen with regular to semi-regular participation. We hope you’ll renew your volunteerism or join us as a new volunteer as the theater begins its third year. Signing up online through our website is easy and convenient, simply pick your dates, submit, and you’re set! By volunteering your time, you’re helping to insure an affordable and quality entertainment option for the community.
The Grand Theater Foundation has dedicated staff and leadership. I was hired in February of 2016 as Executive Director and remain the only full-time employee. We have three part-time managers: Jocelyn, Chelzie and Annie. As the number of active volunteers diminished some of those hours were picked up by three part-time crew members: Caden, Anne and Doris. Our volunteer, non-profit Board of Directors includes: Dylan Morse, Natalie Job, Curt Schwanebeck and Pennie Sommar (Pennie replaced Scott Ziller, a founding board member, at the end of his term). Most of these folks are Knoxville residents and all live in Marion County. All of us are committed to excellent customer service, maintaining a clean and safe facility and providing an affordable, quality experience to our patrons.
Physical improvements to the theater include a reimagination of lobby flow to reduce delays, exterior-lighted poster cases, theatrical lighting in the downstairs auditorium enabling an expansion of live presentations, and soon an entirely new front door installation to improve energy efficiency and security as well as to enhance the exterior appearance of the building. We’re always on the lookout for ways to streamline operations, better organize the facility, and improve the customer experience – if you have suggestions, please let us know.
To date the Grand Theater Foundation’s earned revenues from ticket and concession sales, along with rental fees, have covered most of our operating expenses. Additionally, our non-profit Foundation has received donations and grants from individuals, groups, other foundations and businesses, for specific capital projects or enabling the build up some financial reserves for future needs. There are, however, large projects on the horizon to improve our efficiency, audience comfort and program offerings. You’ve seen what we can do so far, please consider giving to the Grand Theater Foundation to ensure our continued presence and success in the years to come. With all of us working together, we’re continuing to build a community we can all be proud of!
Thank you to all the Grand Theater’s patrons and supporters for two great years!
Sincerely yours,
Sean Skeehan
Executive Director
director@grandtheaterknoxville.org
Dear Grand Theater Booster,
Later this month, the Grand Theater will mark its second anniversary! Since opening, the response from our community has been excellent. Many have told us how much they appreciate having a modern, clean, and affordable theater showing first run films, specials, festivals, and live entertainment so close to home. Many more have been vocal in their appreciation of the effort expended by the entire community in reopening their childhood movie house for their children or grandchildren.
During the first two years the Grand Theater has hit several milestones, learned a lot and enjoyed several positive developments, a few of which I would like to share with you. Given the timing of this letter the statistics quoted are a couple of weeks shy of two full years – and there are still two blockbusters yet to play this month!
- 60,478 admissions sold
- 132 different feature length movies screened
- 26,828 + popcorns served (18,898 + with butter)
- 22,566 + candies served
- 39,896 + drinks served
- Offered numerous one-off films, ‘A Grand Halloween’ film festival, screened all the 2016 Oscar Nominated Shorts, presented an interactive talk with an Iowa-based animator who has worked on several recent animated blockbusters, and hosted live music acts.
- Hosted over a dozen corporate rental events
- Numerous special screenings for schools, organizations, and birthday parties
- 5,800 gift certificates have been issued – many of them given to schools, churches, prom committees, benefits and charities to aid in their fundraising efforts.
Since the Grand Theater opened, three new restaurants and a new pub have also opened on or near the square, altogether bringing a welcome vibrancy to Downtown - especially evident in the evenings and on weekends. When you consider all this new investment – including the recent Streetscape and Infrastructure Project – it’s safe to say Downtown Knoxville is seeing a resurgence and we’re proud to be doing our part to build a brighter future for our community.
The Grand Theater strives to engage a wide audience by programming a regularly changing selection of titles and different genres appealing to many diverse tastes. In addition to blockbuster action or comedy films, we also program dramas and occasional art titles that aren’t widely shown elsewhere in Iowa. We encourage the community to sample all our different offerings, not just the super-hero or outer space features. It is challenging operating just two auditoriums within the constraints of the American cinema industry that dictates when films are available and how long they must run, but we’re always open to suggestions about new and old titles to screen – please let me know what you’d like to see.
We try to accommodate the various needs of our audience, including patrons with physical disabilities. For patrons with a hearing impairment we offer headsets to boost the volume or closed caption devices to read the dialogue. Visually impaired patrons can use a headset with many new films to hear an audio description of what is happening on the screen. We have expanded the number of wheelchair location in the downstairs auditorium – no longer just the first or last rows. Also, every week we flip the films from upstairs to downstairs and vise-versa enabling patrons to see all our movie titles in their preferred theater – avoiding the stairs should they desire or viewing a movie in the more intimate upstairs auditorium.
Volunteers continue to be integral to serving theater patrons and performing maintenance, but seasons change, schedules fill up, and time gets tight. Of the 359 registered volunteers there are only about two dozen with regular to semi-regular participation. We hope you’ll renew your volunteerism or join us as a new volunteer as the theater begins its third year. Signing up online through our website is easy and convenient, simply pick your dates, submit, and you’re set! By volunteering your time, you’re helping to insure an affordable and quality entertainment option for the community.
The Grand Theater Foundation has dedicated staff and leadership. I was hired in February of 2016 as Executive Director and remain the only full-time employee. We have three part-time managers: Jocelyn, Chelzie and Annie. As the number of active volunteers diminished some of those hours were picked up by three part-time crew members: Caden, Anne and Doris. Our volunteer, non-profit Board of Directors includes: Dylan Morse, Natalie Job, Curt Schwanebeck and Pennie Sommar (Pennie replaced Scott Ziller, a founding board member, at the end of his term). Most of these folks are Knoxville residents and all live in Marion County. All of us are committed to excellent customer service, maintaining a clean and safe facility and providing an affordable, quality experience to our patrons.
Physical improvements to the theater include a reimagination of lobby flow to reduce delays, exterior-lighted poster cases, theatrical lighting in the downstairs auditorium enabling an expansion of live presentations, and soon an entirely new front door installation to improve energy efficiency and security as well as to enhance the exterior appearance of the building. We’re always on the lookout for ways to streamline operations, better organize the facility, and improve the customer experience – if you have suggestions, please let us know.
To date the Grand Theater Foundation’s earned revenues from ticket and concession sales, along with rental fees, have covered most of our operating expenses. Additionally, our non-profit Foundation has received donations and grants from individuals, groups, other foundations and businesses, for specific capital projects or enabling the build up some financial reserves for future needs. There are, however, large projects on the horizon to improve our efficiency, audience comfort and program offerings. You’ve seen what we can do so far, please consider giving to the Grand Theater Foundation to ensure our continued presence and success in the years to come. With all of us working together, we’re continuing to build a community we can all be proud of!
Thank you to all the Grand Theater’s patrons and supporters for two great years!
Sincerely yours,
Sean Skeehan
Executive Director
director@grandtheaterknoxville.org