Theater Renovation Gets $150,000 Boost from County

With pledges and donations coming in, are you more convinced the Novato Theater will actually reopen some day?

There is more good news for the Novato Theater renovation effort: A check for $150,000 is on its way from the Marin County Board of Supervisors. It was approved in the Marin Civic Center chambers on Tuesday morning, and project supporter Supervisor Judy Arnold is full of smiles. “I am so thrilled at how the community has rallied behind the theater project," said Arnold, who represents most of Novato at the county government level. "The volunteers, the donors and investors that have worked so hard, is indicative of the spirit of Novato and the goodwill of our county.”   The Novato Theater, opened in 1946 at 924 Grant Ave., has been closed since 1991. Several efforts to revitalize the structure in the past two decades have failed. Volunteers…

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Escrow Closes on Novato Theater; More Funds Needed Before Revamping Begins

Novato City Council OK'd the sale of the long-shuttered theater on Grant Avenue back in December, and now plans can officially move forward.

Will it really happen? Will the Novato Theater actually reopen someday and become the destination for performing arts the city has needed for so long? Naysayers might still have their doubts about whether it'll materialize — more than $2 million needs to be raised before the red-carpet grand opening takes place — but Wednesday marks a significant step: Escrow is closing on the long-shuttered movie house at 924 Grant Ave. Organizers believe transfer of ownership from the city to the nonprofit Novato Theater group clears the way for a new effort to attract closet philanthropists — sugar-daddies, funding angels, call them what you will — to finance the project. Bernice Baeza, executive director of the Novato Theater group, announced Tuesday …

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Sylvia Barry

9:52 pm on Wednesday, February 1, 2012

When I drive by Grant and Redwood after sundown now a days, I see the lit up Novato Theater's neon sign and that just makes me smile every time. Somehow it brightens up the area and makes a big difference to that area even from a distance! Bernice showed the film about the rebuilding of the Mill town of North Adams, MA; by, against all odds, building Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Arts in …   more ›

Mark Calendars for Jan. 17 Novato Theater Fundraiser

Ghiringhelli's Pizzeria Grill and Bar to host a night of entertainment and donate a portion of proceeds to the renovation of the long-closed theater on Grant Avenue.

Some might believe the approved sale of the long-closed Novato Theater to a nonprofit group eyeing a renovation made it all a done deal. But more than $800,000 raised during the initial campaign was just the first test, allowing the sale from the city of Novato to the nonprofit group to proceed. The bigger fundraising job is now under way. That’s why a Ghiringhelli’s Pizzeria Grill and Bar is to hold a fundraiser Jan. 17 to raise more cash for the campaign. “Now we go into Phase 2, which is raising all the funds we need to do this right,” nonprofit director Bernice Baeza said on Dec. 6, the night the Novato City Council unanimously approved the sale of the theater. “That will take up all of 2012. We’d like to break ground on the inside …

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Sylvia Barry

12:20 am on Thursday, January 5, 2012

I believe 100% of the ticket sales along with 15% of the cost of all food and beverages sold will go to Novato Theater.   more ›

Novato Theater Renovation on Council Agenda Tonight

City staff has recommended that the Novato City Council approve a deal to sell the long-closed theater to a nonprofit that plans to revamp it and open it as multiuse performing arts center.

This could be a huge night for Novato. If the City Council follows a recommendation from city staff and approves a $50,000 sale of the Novato Theater to a nonprofit group, residents could be a few years away from having a bustling performing arts facility in the heart of Old Town. The council has a special meeting set for 6:30 p.m. at Novato City Hall to take up the issue, which has been brewing for several years. The Novato Theater, opened in 1946 and a city landmark since then, has been shuttered since 1991 and a constant reminder of what many believe is a lack of nightlife in the city. “I can’t think of any reason why they might postpone it,” said volunteer Susan Bell-Warner. “To my knowledge, we have done everything we need to do.” …

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More Businesses Stepping Up for Theater Renovation

There's a lot more fundraising to do before the old movie house gets renovated, but several small businesses are contributing to accelerate the process.

The Novato business community is answering the call to help the Novato Theater renovation move from Phase I to Phase II. Organizers of the nonprofit working to dust off and place a bow tie on the theater at 924 Grant Ave. said last week that several businesses are stepping up their support to accelerate the reconstruction phase, according to fundraiser organizers. The idea? The more people step up and contribute, the quicker the Old Town movie house — closed since 1991 — can reopen as a performing arts and film center. Following the success of recent theater benefit nights at Chianti Cucina, Cacti and Hilltop 1892, additional businesses are reserving dates and donating a portion of proceeds to the theater campaign. Morris & Company, Tavola…

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Novato Theater Fundraiser a Success, but Deadline Looms

What happens if $750,000 isn't raised by Sept. 1, as agreed upon by the city and the nonprofit that wants to rebuild the long-closed theater? It will be up to the Novato City Council.

Just less than half a million bucks has been donated or pledged to get the shuttered Novato Theater renovated in downtown Novato, but an ominous deadline looms for the nonprofit leading the campaign. The city of Novato agreed to let the Novato Screen Savers group purchase the theater at 924 Grant Ave. for $50,000 if $750,000 was raised by Sept. 1. The deadline originally was June 1 but an extension was secured this spring. Volunteers were buoyed by the success of the Aug. 23 benefit concert at the Novato City Green that starred Wonder Bread 5 and Amy Wigton and was seen by 750 to 1,000 people. Novato Screen Savers director Bernice Baeza said the proceeds amounted to $46,500, boosting the total raised to about $475,000. Novato City Manager …

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Sylvia Barry

8:02 am on Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Novato Theater is at $515K, 69% ... Over 2/3 now ... Bet most people did not think they could get 515K when they first started; I didn't. Go to http://www.novatotheater.net/help.shtml to pledge, donate and/or invest. It is good for the city to have another place for our youth and citizens to gather, to perform and to enjoy different productions - film, theater, concert, etc.; and it will be good …   more ›

Novato Theater Renovation is Special Cause for Wonder Bread 5 Band Members

Wild and wacky rockers headline Rock & Pledge Benefit Concert on Sunday afternoon at the Novato City Green.

When he was a teen, Chris Adams used to be the kid in charge of updating the marquee at the Novato Theater. He’s pretty familiar with those plastic red letters, which today are sitting in a wire milk crate in the dormant theater’s projector room. Someday locals might see the words “Wonder Bread 5 Tonite!” up there on that marquee at 924 Grant Ave. Indeed, that would be quite a trip for Adams, now the keyboard player for Wonder Bread 5, which headlines a concert Sunday at the Novato City Green as a fundraiser for the theater renovation effort.  “This does mean a great deal to me,” said Adams, who is known as Chip in Wonder Bread lexicon. “I’m just excited we can get behind stuff like this. There are a few community things we do where we’re …

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Denise Scoles Olson

8:35 pm on Sunday, August 21, 2011

Wonder Bread 5 was AWESOME! Great crowd and a great time had by all.   more ›

On the Market

Why You Should See Wonder Bread 5 on Aug. 21 in Novato

The Aug. 21 benefit show for the Novato Theater restoration effort is for a cause that could end up increasing the value of your home as well as your quality of life.

With local eyes turned toward hot-button issues like affordable housing and SMART, lost in the shuffle is Novato’s continuing evolution (or de-evolution) from suburban bedroom community to fully-functioning city. The town’s ride on the New Urbanism train hasn’t been as rollicking as that of Marin neighbors with greater downtown infrastructure already in place, but many of the changes that have come to Novato in the past 20 years have been designed to push it in that direction or, perhaps more accurately, in the direction of restoring its “small-town atmosphere.” This isn’t just sepia-toned nostalgia. “Walkability” is hot, a measurable benchmark by which to determine a town’s “pedestrian-friendly” amenities. Downtown Novato, maybe as the …

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Fundraising Eclipses $300,000 for Renovation of Novato Theater

Closed since 1991, the theater on Grant Avenue is the subject of a fundraising effort so a nonprofit can buy it from the city of Novato and reopen it.

More than $300,000 has been raised by the volunteer fundraising team that is trying to get the long-closed Novato Theater renovated and reopened in the Old Town section of Novato. That announcement was made Tuesday before the Novato City Council by Bernice Baeza, who is spearheading the effort by a new nonprofit that hopes to secure enough money to buy the theater from the city of Novato. The $303,000 raised so far includes $150,000 pledged by Marin County Supervisor Judy Arnold, who represents most of Novato, and does not include commitments by members of a new limited liability corporation who are pledging $30,000 or more to the cause. “The main object now is to keep communicating,” Baeza said to the council. “Not everybody knows about …

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Hollywood-Style Promo Videos Shot for Novato Theater Fundraising Campaign

With deadline to raise $750,000 extended to September, the media campaign is ramping up to renovate the long-closed theater on Grant Avenue.

The red carpet was rolled out Wednesday for some dapper and glamorous volunteers who turned out to take part in a promotional video shoot for the Novato Theater renovation effort. Marin County Supervisor Judy Arnold of Novato, who secured $100,000 from the county toward the $750,000 fundraising target, smiled for the camera and made an appeal for Novato residents to write checks and help the theater — closed for 20 years — undergo a structural and aesthetic makeover. The city originally gave the nonprofit group a June deadline to raise $750,000 in pledges to close the agreed-upon $50,000 sale of the theater. But the deadline has been extended to September and fundraising volunteers are redoubling their efforts to appeal to residents who’ve…

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