Crane family to be recognized
Hero Award presented at 2021 Drexel Theatre Gala
In the late 2000s, when the Drexel Theatre in Bexley faced an uncertain future, the Crane family took a starring role in assuring its long-term survival.
The family — including longtime Columbus philanthropist Loann Crane, who died on Nov. 9 at age 96 — provided support at a time when the movie theater's future was in jeopardy because of the recession of 2008 and larger changes in the movie theater business.
“They've been there all the way along, and then when we really needed to save the Drexel, the Crane family was right there and one of a handful of families that really, without them, we may not have the Drexel,” said Kim Rice Wilson, who, with her husband Jim Wilson, serve as the co-chairs of the 2021 Drexel Theatre Gala.
At the gala at the Jeffrey Mansion on Dec. 5, the Crane family will be given the Drexel Hero Award in recognition of the part they played in the theater's continued viability.
Funds raised during the gala are instrumental in assuring continued operations at the theater, which opened in 1937. Officials had the goal of raising $200,000 this year and have already surpassed that figure.
“It's critical to the life of the Drexel Theatre,” Kim Rice Wilson said. “Last year's gala and this year's gala have had an incredible outpouring of support, over and above what we would have expected. People are coming out and supporting the Drexel with their gifts, even when the theatre was closed, because they want it to continue.”
Tickets to attend in-person are sold out, but supporters can view livestreaming of the event by donating a minimum of $75; digital tickets can be purchased at https://secure.qgiv.com/for/20drexega
“The decision to honor the Crane family is a very easy decision to make,” said Bonnie Milenthal, the board chair of Friends of the Drexel, the nonprofit organization that was established in 2009 and now owns and operates the theater. Leaders maintain a partnership with the Columbus Association for the Performing Arts (CAPA), which handles day-to-day operations.
“(The Cranes) are so iconic in our community — everything from education to the arts to social service organizations to rolling up your sleeves and actually getting to work,” Milenthal said.
That includes helping to fund the Drexel's $2.5 million restoration, which modernized the venue — including switching to digital projection, replacing the HVAC system and building new restrooms — while retaining its distinctive Art Deco aesthetic. The effort was completed in 2016.
“The Crane family was one of the three families that stepped forward at a level (where) we have honored them from the very beginning,” said Milenthal, pointing to one of the cinema's three theaters being renamed the Crane Family Theatre. (The other theaters are named for the Jeffrey and Lazarus families.)
Members of the Crane family will be present at the gala to accept the award.
“It just seemed like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to honor people who really deserve to be honored,” Jim Wilson said.
The gala itself has increased significance in recent times, leaders say, because the theater is still closed Mondays through Wednesdays due to the pandemic.
“Without the gala,” Milenthal said, “we would not be able to do what we do.”
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