New Minowa Players' fundraising campaign meets its goal

The NMP storage building--before renovations

The New Minowa Players community theater group in Decorah says it has successfully raised $40,000 to make improvements to their building at 906 South Mill Street.

Built in 1891, the brick building was originally the city's water pumping station. New Minowa Players purchased the building in the early 1980s, then expanded and remodeled the building to include a theater with seating for 60 audience members, a meeting space, a costume shop, a make-up room and storage facilities for tools, supplies and sets.

NMP began its $40,000 fundraising campaign to address some issues that had cropped up, especially with a storage building containing set pieces and stage platform extensions. The building exterior and doors had become an eyesore. The wood foundation was rotting, and the storage area was dysfunctional and unsafe. There was also inadequate lighting.

The storage building now has a new foundation, flooring at ground level, with large outward-opening steel doors, updated lighting and new siding.  It also houses a loft area created by recycling removed floor joists, increasing the storage area by 50 percent.

The NMP storage building--after renovations (Click on photo for larger image)