Local group plans to restore old Redwood Theatre

The old Redwood Theatre building on Mill Street has been given a new lease on life.  After years of serving as a local fitness venue in downtown Redwood Falls, The Redwood Theatre Group, LLC has just closed on the property with plans to refurbish the historic structure into a modern day movie theater with the original grandeur of the old movie house.

Originally built in 1931 by D.W. Buckley, it was the first “talkie” in Redwood Falls and was one of the earliest venues in Minnesota with sound. The facility was built at a time when style was in, and this theater was no exception. It was the jewel of the city.

“The great thing about this building is that when they converted it to a racquetball club in the 70s they just covered everything up. According to Scott Larson they didn’t remove any of the period features,” said Craig LaBrie. “We are excited to see what original details can be included in the new design.”

Now that the building is secured, there is still a lot of work to do in order to get the theater operational, such as getting the theater registered as a historic building.

There are also fundraising goals to be met, as well as completion of the final design and construction.

That will not be a small undertaking.

The group’s target is to have the theater up and running by Memorial Day weekend 2017.   Click here for the full story from the Redwood Falls Gazette!