Ribbon cutting ceremony commemorates $500,000 project completed with $350,000 in donations from Rotary clubs and in-kind services by Visalia Unified maintenance staff

VISALIA– Rotary Clubs of Visalia put a bow on their renovation of Rotary Theatre with a March 21 ribbon cutting ceremony. 

The Visalia Chamber of Commerce held a ribbon cutting for the remodeled theater, located at 330 S. Dollner St. next to the Redwood High School campus. The theater officially reopened to events on Jan. 22 as part of the Visalia Rotary Centennial Celebration. The first Visalia Rotary Club was chartered on Jan. 10, 1922 and held its first regular meeting on Oct. 5, 1921 at Hotel Johnson, at the corner of Main and Church streets, until it burned down in 1968. Rotary eventually inspired four more clubs in Visalia: Visalia Breakfast, Visalia County Center, Visalia Sunset and Visalia Latino.  

This was not the first time Visalia Rotary clubs had invested in the theater. The theater itself was built as an auditorium for the Sierra Vista middle school campus (east of Giddings Street) of Redwood High School in the 1940s. In the 1980s, the Rotary Club helped renovate the building into a theater for VUSD student performances. The major renovation improved the structural integrity of the building and brought the building up to code for its dedication ceremony in 1987. 

Rotarians raised $350,000 through its Visalia Rotary Community Foundation to pay for the renovation and Visalia Unified School District maintenance staff did the work, further reducing the cost of the project, which could have cost an additional $150,000 if it had been forced to outsource the work. The Visalia Rotary Clubs issued a special thanks to Rick Mangini, who donated his time to develop the architectural design plans, and Susan Mangini, who coordinated with district staff and contractors to maintain the theater’s art deco style. 

The project included replacing house seating, broken fixtures in the reception hall and lobby, worn out carpet and harsh fluorescent lighting, new bathroom fixtures, refurbishing acoustic panels for sound, painting the interior, installing a lobby concession counter and a “landing” for a stage door/prop loading access. Key school district employees who coordinated and did the work were: Gary Lemus, director of facilities; Matt Terry, civic facility supervisor; Ken Hughes, lead electrician; Richard Salas, electrician; Angel Correa, electrician; and Chris Garringer, lead painter. Work on the theater was also done by Steve Eastman, electrical engineer, Robert Self Construction, Franey’s Carpet and countertop design by Shawn Boesch. 

The project was originally scheduled for completion in October but was held up due to pandemic-related supply chain issues. The district ordered the 311 new seats in May 2021 but they did not arrive until January 2022. 

Rotarians are still selling naming rights on the seats to raise additional money for the projects. Those interested in putting their name on a seat can make donations payable to the Visalia Rotary Community Foundation, 11878 Avenue 328, Visalia, CA 93291. Rotary will be holding a Centennial Celebration Fundraiser at the theater on Jan. 22, 2022. For more information on donating toward the project, call 559-334-6806 or visit visaliarcfoundation.org/rotary-theater.

Following the ceremonial ribbon cutting, a small troop from Green Acres Middle School returned to the stage to perform select scenes from their production of the musical Annie, the first play to appear on stage of the newly remodeled theater Feb. 10-13. 

While not as large as LJ Williams Theater and not as widely used as the El Diamante Theater, Rotary Theatre plays an important role as a venue for both the school district and the community at large. The theater hosts anywhere from 20-25 Visalia Unified events and five to seven outside events each year and is in use 101-143 days each year. Uses include high school and middle school drama and choir, performing arts events for local home schooling sites and community colleges, private dance companies, special events, graduations and award ceremonies.

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