Photos by Charles Caperton/Greene County Dailies
The blue prints to the Fairborn Theater — dated 1946 — being rolled open by Raleigh Sandy, the president of the Fairborn Performing Arts and Cultural Association. The historic documents were discovered in pile of discarded debris from the closing theater in 2000; Just recently the historic rare find was presented to arts association.
Theater renovation project receives unexpected boost
Committee: Blueprints will save money, time
FAIRBORN — The Fairborn Performing Arts and Cultural Association (PAC) recently received a kick-start to the restoration project on the Fairborn Theatre.
A former employee of the Fairborn Theatre donated the building’s original blueprints to the Fairborn PAC to assist with the project that has been in progress for years on the theater.
Jeffrey Cowgill Jr., who worked at the Fairborn Theatre from approximately 1994 to 1996, said he found the blueprints in a closet he was asked to clean out.
“They were old and covered in rat droppings,” said Cowgill. “My manager told me I could just throw them away.”
Cowgill instead cleaned up the blueprints and saved them in a box.
“I just thought, ‘someone might need these someday,’” said Cowgill.
Prior to the donation, the PAC had been working with an architect to try to recreate the blueprints.
Fred Pumroy, vice president of the PAC, was contacted in early July by Cowgill’s father, who said Cowgill had the original blueprints and could give them to the PAC.
“[Having the blueprints] will save us both time and money on the restoration project,” said Pumroy.
Cowgill, currently an engineer employed at Wright State University, said he was not aware of how much he was helping the PAC.
“I just thought it would be a neat historical thing to return the old blueprints to the building,” said Cowgill.
The PAC is currently waiting for approval of grants from both the federal and state governments totaling over $1.2 million.
Pumroy said the PAC could expect to know whether or not the grants are approved within a month or two.
The PAC has raised $180,000 towards the theater’s restoration project since 2001.
The PAC plans to restore the Fairborn Theatre, which was placed on the National Register of Historical Buildings in 2005, back to its original architectural design.
“I loved that theatrer,” said Cowgill. “It had the neatest architecture—I always thought it had a lot of potential.”
Pumroy said the facility will provide not only classic movies and a performing arts theater, but also a meeting room and a reception room.
“It will be a community center, basically,” said Pumroy.
Pumroy said he wants the theater to bring lower-cost entertainment to the community.
“Some families can’t afford to go to the Schuster Center,” said Pumroy. “We want them to have something that’s close by and affordable.”
Those interested in involvement with the Fairborn Theatre project may contact Fred Pumroy at 878-7257 or email RestoreTheater@aol.com.
