Seventy-five years after the curtain went up for the first time at the Melba Theatre in downtown Houston, several organizations announced plans last week to begin a project to renovate the historic downtown Houston building.
The goal was highlighted during a luncheon meeting at the Houston Visitors’ Center, which saw representatives of Downtown Houston Inc., Houston Community Betterment and Arts Council, the City of Houston , Texas County Library system and business interests attend. More than 25 persons pledged to work toward the Grand Avenue renovation of the former Melba Theatre, which closed in 1980 and has been idle since.
The project includes the Melba building and commercial buildings on each side of it. A purchase agreement has been reached with representatives of the trust of Kathleen Kelly Fiquet, who own the buildings. Fiquet was the daughter of Bessie Kelly Womack Herrington, who constructed the movie house that opened in February 1938 and continued to be a social hub for generations.
Those attending the meeting heard planning sessions are under way to develop a strategic plan that involves applications for tax credits under the Missouri Neighborhood Assistance Program and grants, as well as developing an operating model that provides necessary revenue for utilities, insurance and operational expenses once the project is completed.
The earliest application period for state tax credits is May. The funding mechanism has been used previously for downtown projects. Earlier, Downtown Houston Inc. generated nearly $500,000 in private contributions for development of the Lone Star Plaza after a devastating fire and a major rehabilitation of the former Haney Market that today is the Houston Visitors’ Center, which hosted last week’s meeting. The City of Houston later obtained grant funding that brought new lighting and sidewalks to the downtown business district.
Others also have seen success. Opportunity Sheltered Industries, situated in the Houston Industrial Park in west Houston, also used the credits to construct a new building.
Among the first items on the do-list are:
•Application to the Missouri Department of Economic Development for the state tax credits, which give donors a 70-cent tax credit for each $1 donated. Additionally, the contribution is deductible on federal returns. For someone paying at the 28 percent federal rate, the cost is about $2 for each $100 contributed, and they get to direct their tax dollars to a local project.
•Meetings to develop a construction plan. Gary Gentry, a principal in a longtime Houston construction firm, attended the meeting and will act as an adviser.
•Generating letters of support from those who can use the facility and those in the community who can outline the merit of the project. Those can be dropped off the Houston Visitors’ Center from noon to 2 p.m. Tuesdays. Additionally, Elaine Campbell will accept them from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. during the week at Houston City Hall.
Rebecca Peterson of the Stars Foundation in Cabool, at the invitation of Houston Mayor Don Tottingham, attended the meeting by telephone and outlined her excitement for the project. Her six-county effort offers musical lessons and programs and performs productions in the Star Theatre at Willow Springs, which also went through a restoration. Houston residents participate.
Members of the Community Betterment and Arts Council discussed how the Melba could be used to house productions, host shows and offer rental income from those who want to use it for gatherings. It will seat about 300. Property owners spoke about how the renovation would spruce up the appearance of the downtown. It was also noted that the Houston School District doesn’t have a stage for its students.
To forge additional progress in the downtown Houston, Main Street property owner Barbara Skyles Kimes White announced her family has donated buildings to be used for efforts of Downtown Houston Inc. The property is located south of Farmers Insurance.
Plans call for part of the space to be occupied by Friends of the Library and the Houston Farmers Market, where the annex would be used for storage, public restrooms and refrigeration.
“We appreciate the generosity of Barbara and her family in making the donation,” said Brad Gentry, the group’s president. “The family has played an important role in Houston’s progress generationally.”
Gentry and board officers Kathy Richardson and Vera Gladden were joined by Texas County Library Director Audrey Barnhart and Library Board President Gwen Ross at the announcement. A library organization, Friends of the Library, has expressed an interest in remodeling and housing its book store and other endeavors in the space. The other portion is earmarked for the Houston Farmers Market, which needs restrooms, refrigeration and storage space for its weekly market that is situated nearby at Pine and First streets. In 2012, Richardson led an effort that brought a copper canopy to the property for use for vendors of the market, which has grown over the years.
•Gaylord Elliott is credited with running Houston’s first moving picture show. Elliott was an innovative businessman and involved in first-time ventures, including being Houston’s first undertaker.
•In the late 1920s, the Houston theatre was owned by Orville “Shorty” Gentry. He remodeled the lower level of the old post office (111 Grand Ave.) into Houston’s first theatre with actual sloping floors to the west. Movie chairs were present and so was a screen with a curtain.
•Gentry sold the business to Warren McKnight in the 1930s.
• At the new Melba, an oak ticket booth with a glass window took 20 cents for adults. Children under 12 pushed 10 cents through the opening. Outside, metal frames held photos of movie scenes and a large poster of the movie — future feature on the right, now showing on the left.