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Nonprofit seeks to restore historic Little Rock theater

"It is very important that we introduce our students to art, history and give them a sense of culture in this community."

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KTHV) – The city of Little Rock has a plan to make an old crumbling theater into an anchor for the community in order to fight crime.

The 12th street corridor is lined with empty businesses and homes. However, the Brandon House Cultural and Performing Arts Center wants to change that by restoring an empty theater for kids to go to after school.

Lee Theater was built in the 1940's, but it has been vacant for quite some time. Restoring the theater would make it a safe place for kids to go.

“We’ recognize there’s limited arts in this community,” Brandon House Director Pamela Bax said.

At the Brandan House in Little Rock, kids learn how to play music and sing. But the after school program has limited space, and it needs a place like Lee Theater for kids to perform.

"They are so excited just to be able to be exposed to music and the arts and having a theater like that where they can actually perform,” Bax said.

Director Pamela Bax says she is trying to get a grant to restore the theater because it is unusable.

"We're Looking at about $286,000 to stabilize the theater. And that includes outing the roof, getting the inside gutted and painted,” she said.

The building is owned by Better Community Development. Deborah Bell said she has been working to get it fixed up for years.

"The roof has collapsed. It was one of the most endangered historic properties,” Bell said.

She said she wants to get it restored for the kids.

“It is a piece of history that we don't want to see demolished,” Bell said. “It would be a gathering place for children and adults to come and have performances.”

The theater has a checkered past and was placed on the Historic Registry in 2016. It used to seat 900 people, but blacks had to enter through the back.

“The 700 seats at the bottom were white. The 200 seats in the balcony were colored only,” Bell said.

But the theater still has potential, and could soon become a symbol for dozens of kids.

"It is very important that we introduce our students to art, history and give them a sense of culture in this community,” Bax said.

If you would like to make a donation to help rebuild Lee Theater, you can contact Better Community Development here.

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