The Park Theatre Inc

Programs: The mission of the park theatre is "to provide and promote educational, cultural and entertainment programs and activities for the residents of, and visitors to, the monadnock region of new hampshire communities, and to own and maintain physical facilities". In july, the community development finance authority awarded the park theatre project 550,000 in nh state tax credits to complete the rebuilding. Six companies purchased the first year's allotment by september (200,000). In february of 2015, another 150,000 was purchased, leaving 190,000 available through march 2016, although trustees plan on securing that funding in advance of that date. Also starting in july, trustees mounted the theatre's eight theatrical season with the summer movie nights series in downtown jaffrey. The series included 7 movies shown every week throughout the summer: rocky, michael, magnificent seven, to kill a mockingbird, best in show, african queen and love, actually. The films, which are free and open to the public, were shown in the historic cutler memorial building, home to one of the theatre's partners, the jaffrey woman's club. The theatre's 8 annual movie series has brought over 11,500 patrons to downtown jaffrey solely for programs presented by the park theatre since 2007. Theater trustees have continued to collaborate with the performing artists to mount theatrical programs and to promote those groups in marketing pieces, press releases and the annual report. In return, these performing partners have spread the word about the park theater to their patrons and colleagues. This partnership outreach has also brought people into downtown jaffrey for programs of art, culture and entertainment. For the seventh year in a row, the theatre participated in the town's annual community celebration, riverfest, which draws thousands of people into the downtown area. The original building was taken down in december 2013, so trustees took advantage of riverfest to conduct virtual tours of the site with the newly designed floor plan laid out by the local school's 6th grade math class. In the autumn, the park theatre offered its family film series - saturdays at the cinema - during the three months, september through and november. The first two evenings screened laura and independence day. The theatrical season concluded with the annual salute to veterans with the showing of "sergeant york", the action story depicting the military career of one of the army's most distinguished solders. As always, special entertainment was provided as part of the theatre's recognition of the service to our country by area veterans. The park theatre held its annual meeting in december to report to the community about its plans and progress, which this year included a special performance by a keene-based choral group, "broadway friends", who donated their talents for the event. In january, trustees collaborated with touchstone farm to present a film and seminar on the therapeutic benefits of horseback riding and training for returning military veterans. This was followed by two programs in march in collaboration with monadnock international film festival on the 50th anniversary of the death of keene resident, jonathan daniels during the march of freedom summer. Trustees screened "guess who's coming to dinner" and produced an evening about a distinguished jaffrey resident, amos fortune to a standing room only crowd. As usual preparations were begun to launch a ninth theatrical and film season for the summer. Trustees continued to work with hutter construction corporation, bka architects and tf moran to finalize construction plans. The construction documents were completed at the end of june and ready to be submitted to the town of jaffrey for approval and for the building permit. The theatre's owner's representative for construction met with the builders and institutional funders to keep the project on course. Theatrical consultants in performance equipment and sound were engaged to analyze plans to date and provide information for any changes, if necessary. In march, the park theatre was awarded a 50,000 grant from the timken foundation of canton for construction of the new facility. Trustees also launched a special funding initiative, community leadership campaign, in january to raise the funds needed for pre-construction costs prior to the rebuilding starting. By the end of the fiscal year, trustees had raised 230,000 of the 650,000 goal and were awarded a matching grant of 200,000 to complete the campaign. This effort was supported by trustees who recruited a local fundraiser specializing in arts and culture. Several targeted mailings were organized and person-to-person solicitations arranged with the goal to raise 200,000 before october. Since the project to rebuild was started in 2005, the theatre has received financial support from 24 foundations, 76 businesses and over 1,520 individuals from 23 towns in new hampshire and 22 states across the country as well as from local, state and federal governments. The vision for the park theatre is that it will be "a regional center for the arts and entertainment, a meeting place for the community and a dynamic force in the region's vitality and quality of life". (adopted may 2006)