Joe Downtown: $175,000 raised for Huntridge Theater; now it’s time to celebrate

By Joe Schoenmann

Wednesday, July 17, 2013 | 3:29 p.m.

Call it the after-party.

Capping a five-week, online fundraising campaign to raise $150,000 toward revival of the historic Huntridge Theater, people are invited to the Gay & Lesbian Community Center of Southern Nevada, 401 S. Maryland Parkway, to revel in the accomplishment Thursday.

The campaign used the services of Indiegogo.com to raise, at last count, about $175,000 from some 640 people.

Volunteers and community members are invited to the 5:30-7:30 p.m. event.

There will be more than celebration, though.

Downtown businessman Michael Cornthwaite, who partnered with event planner Joey Vanas to create Huntridge Revival LLC, said another big announcement will be made regarding hundreds of thousands of dollars of in-kind contributions — engineering, lighting and more — coming in from local businesses to help the theater revival effort.

After the event, people are invited to the Huntridge Tavern, 1116 E Charleston Blvd., about two blocks south of the center, for more celebration.

The online campaign was needed to raise money for initial services, such as soil testing and architectural renderings. Millions more are needed to purchase the property ($4 million) and renovation ($11 million).

Opened 69 years ago, the theater at Maryland Parkway and Charleston Boulevard has been out of operation for nearly 10 years.

Joe Schoenmann doesn’t just cover downtown, he lives and works there. Schoenmann is Greenspun Media Group’s embedded downtown journalist, working from an office in the Emergency Arts building.