Hello and thank you for taking the time to read about our crowdfund campaign! I am here to ask for your help in renovating and revitalizing a unique, historical building in Anson County, North Carolina.
Anson County is my home county. I grew up here and came back after 30 years away. I see how things have changed. Poverty and unemployment has reached double digits, along with the crime rate. There seems to be a lack of hope. I purchased the Lyric Theatre 3 years ago with plans on renovating it to provide a place for people to come for job training and to have a positive place to hang out. Also, I want to preserve some of the history of the town that I grew up in. I can remember the excitement of coming to what we called uptown when I was young. Of course the Lyric Theatre was not as it was in its “hay days’ but some of the other buildings were. The Lyric Theatre building is one of the few buildings that have not been renovated in the town.
The Lyric Theater building, as it is widely known, was first built in 1890 as the Town Hall building, and was later converted in 1908 to serve as the county’s first theater, and the only air conditioned building across Anson County. The building was opened and closed multiple times over the course of its lifetime, undergoing several renovations and rehab projects that included updating new light fixtures, adding electric signage and replacing the movie screen itself.
Our beloved theater went out of business for good in 1927, when the newly opened Anson Theater brought competition to the market that the Lyric Theater, much older, and in a less desirable neighborhood, couldn’t beat. It has lain in near ruins, with no real interest by local businesses or organizations to set up shop within the old historic building and bring it back to its former glory. That is, until now!
The Project:
I have initiated this crowdfund campaign to begin a renovation project on the historic Lyric Theater building. I will lease space within the building at $1/month for 50 years to ACCESS, a faith-based, 501c3 non-profit organization, whose mission is to share God’s plan of hope and a future by providing a pathway from poverty to economic freedom.
The remaining portion of the building will be used for the following purposes:
● community event center
● commercial rental space
I believe that the reason businesses and organizations have not taken advantage of this historic property is because it has, up until this point, been simply too expensive to renovate for any one company to take on. Because I am attempting to raise a large sum of money to completely renovate the building, this will be give other local organizations and retail businesses the chance to take advantage of a unique, historic, and incredibly well-known location, without having to put a great deal of money down for construction and rehab costs!
In order to fund the rehabilitation of this historic building, I am in need of your help! As this building has been sitting, vacant and unattended, for years, there is a significant amount of work that has to be done, including carpentry, bringing the windows and doors up to code, updating the electrical and plumbing, and more.
I have invested $80,000 personally in the building, this includes having a structural assessment completed by a structural engineer. The building was reported as structural sound, with minor repairs, so that all the donations that I receive will go into renovations not making structural corrections.
In all, I anticipate it will cost us approximately $250,000 to completely renovate the property and have it ready for new tenants to come in and use part of the space, as well as our other plans for the building. I can provide you will all the specific details regarding the building, deed, cost estimates,etc.
The sooner I can reach our funding goals, the faster I can begin renovation on the building and bring much-needed new change to our community.