T-L Photo/GAGE VOTA Monroe County Commissioner Mick Schumacher expresses his excitement Tuesday about the Monroe Theatre receiving nearly $4 million from Gov. Mike DeWine’s Appalachian Community Grant program. Chastity Schmelzenbach, executive director of Buckeye Hills Regional Council, listens as he speaks.

WOODSFIELD — The historic Monroe Theatre celebrated its nearly $4 million award from Gov. Mike DeWine’s Appalachian Community Grant program on Tuesday and made plans to put the money to work.

The $3.7 million grant will allow the theater to become fully handicap accessible and will also cover the addition of a fully seated balcony to allow more people to enjoy the venue.

In May, the state of Ohio awarded Ross County commissioners $154 million through the Appalachian Community Grant program to implement transformative projects across the region. It all started with a shared vision called Appalachian History Heritage and Culture.

Executive Director of Buckeye Hills Regional Council Chastity Schmelzenbach said the reason the theater was chosen to receive the grant is because the purpose of the awards is to complete revitalization projects that will draw more traffic to a community’s downtown area.

“When we were working and shaping up the project, it was part of an application called Downtowns and Destinations – which the Ross County commissioners were the actual applicant for – and they are a conglomeration of about 32 projects across the state of Ohio in the Appalachian area that Ross County selected. Many of them are downtown revitalization projects or downtown destination projects, and they saw this theater as that opportunity to really help create something that is going to increase traffic in downtown Woodsfield to become even a bigger draw,” Schmelzenbach said. “We know through Commissioner (Mick) Schumacher that the theater has had several acts come, and at one point they were really trying to just get by.”

She added that the grant provides an opportunity to fix all of the mechanical systems to have appropriate heating, cooling and plumbing.

She also said she believes that making the entire building ADA accessible will open up even more opportunities for the theater to grow.

Kalpa Baghasingh, architect and principal of Schooley Caldwell, is the lead architect of the revitalization project. She said her passion is working on historic preservation projects.

Built in 1939, the Monroe Theatre welcomed national acts from Hollywood, Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry and The Wheeling Jamboree, according to its website. Its doors closed in 1977.

Decades later, in 2016, the Monroe Arts Council acquired the building and volunteers began the process of scrubbing and repairing the structure. The Monroe reopened its doors in 2019. Leading up to its reopening, Baghasingh was hired to replace the theater’s roof and windows.

“Since 2019 they have added a concession stand, added ADA restrooms, and whenever they had a little bit of money they would go a little further,” Baghasingh said. “So now with this ACGP grant, they got nearly $4 million to do an entire renovation of the interior of the theater, and that’s where we come in to help them design that renovation.”

She added that the theater will be adding a balcony with two ADA compliant restrooms and additional seating, making the theater a 500-seat venue.

“It’s going to be a full renovation that will take the theater back to its 1939 look as much as we can,” she said.

Monroe County Commissioner Mick Schumacher, a member of the arts council, said he’s excited for the future of the theater. He said that now that the theater was awarded the money, he doesn’t want residents to think that it’s sitting on millions of unneeded dollars.

He added that the theater constantly holds events for the community for no cost.

“We do movies for the schools and don’t charge for that. We give them free popcorn and free drinks,” Schumacher said. “The money will be there. I don’t worry about it. We do concerts here for Monroe Central (High School) and we don’t charge for that. We try to let the community have as many fundraising opportunities as they need.”

He added that his main goal for the theater is for it to be a gathering place for the community, regardless of whether the theater charges a fee.

Although there is no start date for the renovation project, Stage Manager Rick Brown said that the goal is for the theater to continue to host events by renting various community centers and halls and branding those “Monroe Theater on tour” to keep building interest and momentum for when the theater is able to reopen.