Mitchell's ACT is growing bigger than ever - Daily Republic
"We knew we could do it. We knew the Mitchell community and all surrounding towns would get behind the theater, just like they had been coming to shows," said Paula Deckert, who was the ACT's office manager in 2004. "There was just no doubt in... In less than a year and a half, halfway through 2005, the ACT had found a new home, the former balloon museum at the corner of Seventh Avenue and Main Street. The fire ended 98 years of theater at that site on Main Street. Prior to the State Theatre, the Gale Theatre sat in the same location from 1906 to 1914. She remembers worrying about the people who lived in the building, and the sense of relief when she knew the tenants in the building escaped safely. Replaced carpet throughout the theater, a new sound booth, new directors rooms in the basement—not to mention the "blood, sweat and tears" invested in the building—were all lost in the flames. The theater group moved quickly to find a new home, and the city deeded ACT the site at Seventh and Main, the former balloon. Source: www.mitchellrepublic.com
