The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
New dreams for old building in hands of local artists
Plans forming for historic 1883 Town Hall
There’s a new dream for an old building that served as Vermilion’s city center for years.
Brittany Drost, founder of Harbourtown Dance Studio, has an ambitious plan for Vermilion’s historic 1883 Town Hall to become a new focal point for the community.
Drost is leading a group to oversee the restoration of the red brick building at 736 Main St.
The building will become headquarters of the Harbourtown Fine Arts Community Center and Theatre.
The nonprofit organization will be “dedicated to preserving the past and building a future in Vermilion around the fine arts.”
“Originally, I was just going to put my studio here,” said Drost, who began her dance company in 2013. “But there’s so much work and the building itself was built to be a community space.
“And for a hundred years, it was the focal point of all the activities in Vermilion. So, it just felt to me that it needed to be owned and operated by a nonprofit organization, not just a sole proprietor, just to make it available to everybody. It’s just a gem.”
Big dreams
Drost in September moved her dance studio into the first floor.
She first visited the space as a girl, when her late father, Jimmy Davis, had meetings as a city council member, then mayor.
That area will host yoga, music lessons and other activities.
But those who believe in the building, dream big on the second floor.
The upper story, also called the opera house, holds a complete stage, curtains, sloped floor, seats and a balcony.
The theater has been hidden in plain sight for decades.
Most recently, the first floor of the building served as the shop of Tiffany’s Flowers, but visitors seldom, if ever, got to see the entirety of the structure, Drost said.
“So, even when it was open for retail, there’s a good majority of Vermilion who have never been upstairs, who don’t even know there’s a full theater up there,” she said. “You drive past the building every day, and most people, the majority of people that I take up there, are just stunned that this even exists.”
The building, which is Victorian Gothic style architecture, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
It has had some cosmetic changes, but never a fullscale restoration.
Efforts to revitalize it will balance the historic nature and modern accommodations for fire safety and handicap access.
There are relatively few photographs of the interior when it was a theater, so some details are vague for the interior details.
“This place is full of mysteries,” Drost said. “It’s awesome; it’s awesome.”
The building had a new roof put on five years ago, Drost said.
She acknowledged other parts of the town hall are in rough shape.
In the theater, paint is peeling and some spots of plaster need patched.
The first floor has heating and air conditioning, but there are no ducts upstairs, so the performance area does not have climate controls.
The venue would be best suited for spring and fall, when weather outside is moderate.
But the seats, curtains and many panes of glass all are original, making the theater a walk-in antique.
“I guess it’s kind of good that nobody knew it was up here because nothing has been done to it, until the right people came along and want to do the right thing with it,” Drost said.
Vision for the future
Drost assembled a board to create the nonprofit organization; there is a purchase agreement for the group to take ownership in 2020.
With nonprofit status, the building may qualify for restoration grant money.
“It’s going to be so beautiful when it’s done,” said Libby Williams, Drost’s mother, who also will serve as a board member.
Vermilion musician Shawn Perry, who operates Rock City Guitars, will serve as a board member.
Perry said he first discovered the space as a teenager while growing up in the city and has been interested in it since.
“Why is this here and not being used?” he asked. “I think was the biggest question that we had.”
There are not many small music venues between Cleveland and Sandusky, he said.
He teaches six instruments and will use the building’s first floor for lessons.
“We always wondered why it’s just sitting there, and now we have a chance to use the place,” Perry said about the town hall. “That’s the biggest thing that attracted me to doing it, and it made sense for us to have our music and dancing in the same building. It’s all symbiotic from a performance standpoint.”
“We always wondered why it’s just sitting there, and now we have a chance to use the place.” — Vermilion musician Shawn Perry