The Crump Theatre is now reopen after officials and volunteers worked to meet building codes.
(Joe Hren, WFIU/WTIU News)
The historic Crump Theatre in Columbus is open again to the public after being closed for nine years. But there's still much work to do as volunteers, businesses, and officials preserve an important part of the town’s history.
The last major renovation was more than 80 years ago. Project manager Jess Schnepp says the theater still reflects the eras since it opened in 1889.
“It's how do we make them all flow and come together. So this particular space is all from the last major renovation, which was 1941. All Art Deco and it's concrete and leather walls.”
Schnepp got the keys to the building in 2019 to assess the work needed and made some remarkable discoveries.
“Like this mural, for example, is amazing. It was done in 1941 by (Martin) Ziegner. He was a German muralist - did murals all over the U.S.," Schnepp said.
“We found one little article mentioned that he occasionally used phosphorescent paint on a few of his murals, that means it would glow. So I immediately came running. And this does glow.”
The theater was considered state of the art when opened 134 years ago. Light sensor technology opened the doors – and turned on the drinking fountains.
The Crump Theatre after the 1941 renovation. (Courtesy Photo)
“The Infinity Columns, we will put back the neon that goes around each column to create more light, but it also is very visually Art Deco for the timeframe.”
Schnepp says the theater is well built, but needed a new roof, repair work to a couple trusses, and lots of TLC – including the upstairs gentlemen and ladies lounges.
“We actually had a black-and-white photo that was shooting in here so we could kind of tell what the pattern on the wall was. And so local businesses jumped right in and picked out the wallpaper and the paint color and all of it was donated - even the labor to do all of it.”
The marble stalls are refinished, and new vitrolite glass panels are being replicated in St. Louis to repair the wall.
“And welcome to the crying room,” Schnepp says on the tour.
The small room is tucked away in the back corner overlooking the theater house. Now, it’s a museum filled with old candy boxes, photos, an antique popcorn machine, and pieces of an original opera house chair assembled to show what one would have looked like in 1889.
Pieces of an original opera house seat assembled to show what one would have looked like in 1889. (Joe Hren, WFIU/WTIU News)
Next, Schnepp takes us from the main lobby into the main level theater house.
“As soon as you walk through these doors, it's a time-hop because you're going to see eras from 1889, all the way through to 1941. The grid ceiling is the original 1889 grid ceiling from the opera house stays. The floor we're standing on is the original 1920s wood floor that is suspended.”
The seats in the lower main house are from the 1941 renovation. Those are being redone and will be installed on the balcony. Seats donated from the 1927 Indiana War Memorial will be configured in the main level.
“Each of those decorative panels were originally the opera house box seats, the balcony seats. So they had their own individual balconies that curved out in the '20s. They were going to movies, so they shaved off the actual balcony part and did these decorative backlit panels. Our game plan is to actually reinstall the balcony box seats, the very top one on each side because that won't block view.”
Interior Crump Theatre Columbus, IN August 2023 during renovations. (Joe Hren, WFIU/WTIU News)
The truss repair was delayed for a year so workers could relocate a 100-thousand honeybee colony that made a home above the stage.
The original silent movie screen frame can be lowered to the stage from its original counterweight pulley system. A new screen was donated. Schnepp says they even found the speaker system that would have been placed behind the screen when sound was added in the 1940s.
Schnepp says all the materials so far have been donated. From LED lights, emergency lights, fire extinguishers – even the architect and structural engineer donated their time.
“I know I'm so excited. It'll be so nice to actually have this building filled with people and let them see what's happening. And hopefully they'll want to help too.”
The re-opening of the theater will coincide with a fundraising campaign to replace the roof. They’re hoping to raise $60,000. Other community campaigns will help fund the seat reupholstering and leather replacement.
The theater is owned by the Columbus Capital Foundation which aims to protect and preserve historic buildings.
