Family Science Night

Chronicle
Serving Northern Vermilion and Southern Iroquois Counties since 1872 Wednesday, March 16, 2016
Weekly Smile
Volume 144, No. 11
Hoopeston Area High
School student Mercy
Linder smiles after
discussing her work
for the Chronicle Arts
Spotlight on page 8
John Greer presents
School
Family Science Night
(Above) Alex Houmes (left), Save the Lorraine Foundation Vice
President, and Troy Freeman (right), Free Sky Studios Lead
Artist, look over the art designs of the Lorraine Theatre.
Dr. Wendy Brown (above) and Travis
Photo by Jordan Crook Brown (bottom left), McKenzie Kohler
(bottom middle) and Jayden Brown (bottom right) representing Danville Area
Community College’s biology department,
present reptiles to John Greer students
and parents during last week’s Family
By Jordan Crook
ture of the Lorraine Theatre. Sky Studios, visited the
Science Night. More photos are on pages
Chronicle Reporter
Even decades after they
Lorraine Theatre last week
12 and 24.
The artistic designs feawere first painted, the
to examine the artwork and
Photos by Jordan Crook
tured on the interior walls
designs still adorn the walls
prepare for the extensive
Save the Lorraine Foundation looks
to preserve iconic theater artwork
John Greer teacher
earns Expect More!
award, page 10.
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were always a striking fea-
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of the aging theater, but not
for much longer.
Unfortunately, due to
mold and rot caused by
years of moisture collection
in the building, the walls the
designs are featured cannot
be preserved.
The designs themselves,
however, will not be going
away forever.
Troy Freeman has been
tasked with precisely capturing these designs before
the walls are removed so
that he may repaint them
once the interior of the theater is ready.
Freeman, lead artist and
business manager for Free
process of digitally recording all of the designs in the
theater.
Freeman said phase one
of his project will involve
recording all of the interior
artwork so that he can then
accurately repaint them
on the walls after the interior of the theater has been
restored.
He said this will involve
making technical schematic
drawings of every panel and
collecting information on
the size of each piece of artwork and working to match
the color of each as best as
he can.
THEATER, Page 9
www.thehoopestonchronicle.com
eThe Chronicle
Wednesday, March 16, 2016 • 9
Theater, From Page 1
Freeman said matching
the color may be difficult
as the designs have faded
since they were originally
painted, but he plans on
researching them further to
seek out a color palette that
will match the period they
are from.
Freeman’s personal interest in the history of the
Lorraine is what drove him
to take on the project.
He said he takes a personal interest in most of his
projects in order to make
certain he is passionate in
his work.
“It makes it more interesting,” he said.
Freeman compared some
of what he does when it
comes to learning more
about the history of a project to detective work.
“You get into a project
like this and it’s almost like
detective work,” he said.
“You’re retracing steps of
history. It is fascinating to
get into a project like this.”
Freeman describes delving into the history of the
building he is working with,
investigating the type of
paint used and trying to find
the person who painted a
piece of art or even a relative of the artist to try to
glean more an idea of what
inspired the original artist.
“I’m just drawn to this
kind of thing,” he said.
Freeman said he looks
forward to speaking
with people around the
Hoopeston area to learn
their personal histories with
the Lorraine.
He said it is clear that
the owners of the Lorraine
early in its life span put a
lot of effort into the artistic
decor of the theater.
“They spared no
expense,” he said. “They
made this thing into a show
piece.”
Freeman expressed his
excitement at taking on a
project inside such a landmark piece of artistic history.
“There is nothing like
this,” he said. “This gives
me chills.”
Once the first phase of the
process is completed, the
walls will be removed.
Alex Houmes, Save the
Lorraine Foundation Vice
President, said the auditorium will be essentially
gutted once Freeman is
finished documenting the
interior artwork.
“Over the years, it’s been
ruined by the leaks and the
moisture, the mold and the
mildew that’s attacked the
building,” he said.
Houmes said there is really now way of preserving
the actual walls due to these
factors, so the foundation
felt preserving the design of
the artwork itself and replicating it inside the theater
in the future was the best
option.
“There’s really no way
of saving them as they are
right now,” he said. “So
we thought the best way to
move forward was to was
just to get rid of them and
make sure we have all the
documentation we need to
put them back to as to close
to original as possible.”
While the artwork was
undeniably eye-catching in
its day, Houmes said many
people were never aware of
the ornately detailed designs
that line the theater’s walls.
“It’s actually pretty surprising how many people
don’t realize the detail of
the designs in this building
simply because of how dim
and dingy they had gotten
over the years,” he said.
To counter this, Houmes
said the foundation plans on
making the designs more
vibrant and noticeable once
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they are repainted on the
walls.
“These designs are unique
to the Lorraine and are part
of what makes the Lorraine
the Lorraine,” he said. “We
find it very important to get
this right.”
Houmes said the foundation wants to ensure they
retain the “wow” factor for
incoming audience members at the Lorraine.
“We find it really important that that ‘wow’ factor
stays when we are done
with this building,” he said.
“We didn’t want to go,
for lack of a better term,
cheap on the building, cover
things with curtains and
paint things, that would not
make it the Lorraine.”
Freeman agreed with
Houmes’ assessment,
pointing out that you can’t
recreate the nostalgia that
emanates from the Lorraine
anywhere else.
He said that nostalgia,
coupled with the extensive restoration efforts the
foundation is dedicating
to recovering the building,
is what will draw people
in when the theater does
reopen.
Houmes said the foundation had announced plans to
reopen the theater this year.
Whenever they reopen
it, he said the interior of
the auditorium will remain
unfinished.
Houmes said reopening
the main theater, even in an
unfinished state, will allow
the foundation to generate
revenue from it rather than
just letting it sit empty and
unused.
Houmes estimates it will
likely be another year or
two before they will be able
to get the designs back on
the wall.
As with most things,
he said, the process will
depend largely on money.
Houmes said Freeman has
offered to help the foundation find new sources
of grant money and other
donations to further their
efforts.
“I think Troy’s going to
be a huge asset for us,” he
said.
The Save the Lorraine
Foundation is also raising
money with the weekly
movies it showcases at the
Little Lorraine.
Houmes said the Save
the Lorraine Foundation is
operating the Little Lorraine
in Hoopeston in order to
help raise money to pay for
the extensive renovations
that are underway a the
main theater.
He specifically pointed
to the mechanical lift the
foundation purchased for
use inside the main theater.
He said purchasing the lift
was more cost-efficient than
continually renting on for
the myriad of projects they
will be using it for in the
theater.
“We bought the lift and
we’re using the money
we’re making off the shows
at the Little Lorraine to pay
for the lift,” he said. “It’s
going to allow us to do all
the things we need to do in
this building.”
Anyone interested
in learning more about
the Save the Lorraine
Foundation or donating to
the cause can visit www.
savethelorraine.com.
Providing All Your Maternity Care
Needs and Beyond
Laura Smith, M.D. and Adree Venatta, M.D.
Family Medicine Physician including Maternity Care
Tiffany Rushing
Family Nurse Practitioner
705 S. Dixie Hwy • Hoopeston, IL 60942