Children's Theatre building purchase in the works

The Community Foundation for a Better Bigfork has offered to sell its majority interest in the Bigfork Playhouse Children’s Theatre building on Grand Avenue for $85,000.

If the Children’s Theatre can raise the money by Jan. 31, 2017, it would give the nonprofit theater company full ownership of the building it uses for rehearsal space, auditions, workshops and other events. The Children’s Theatre already is a partial owner of the building.

“It’s incredibly important to get the theater into their hands,” foundation president Paul Mutascio said. “It’s a win-win situation.”

Bigfork resident Walter Kuhn purchased the building about four years ago with the idea of enabling the Children’s Theatre to one day own the building.

“It was a wonderful gesture on his part,” Mutascio said.

The Children’s Theatre was able to purchase a portion of the building two years ago, and the Community Foundation for a Better Bigfork then purchased the remaining 53.15 percent of the children’s theater building from Kuhn.

“In doing so, our goals were to help ensure both the success and permanence of a Children’s Playhouse in Bigfork, and eventually sell our ownership in the building to Bigfork Playhouse Children’s Theatre Inc.,” Mutascio said in a letter sent last week to the theater company.

He said the foundation bought Kuhn’s ownership for $100,465. The Children’s Theatre’s monthly rental fee was set to recover only the foundation’s costs for insurance, property taxes and depreciation.

“Any remaining rental funds are returned to the Playhouse at the end of each year for building improvements,” Mutascio said.

Reimbursements to the Children’s Theatre have totaled more than $3,000 annually since the foundation bought the building in 2014.

Since the foundation’s total investment in the property is $102,648, the purchase price of $85,000 is “of significant benefit” to the Children’s Theatre, Mutascio said.

“The reduction we are passing on to the theater will be the largest ‘donation’ ever made by the Community Foundation for a Better Bigfork to any single group,” he pointed out, adding that money from the purchase will be invested into other community projects for Bigfork.

Fundraising for the building purchase is well underway, said Dennis Yarbrough, a longtime supporter and current board member of the Children’s Theatre. About $65,000 already has been raised.

The location of the building, just 200 yards from Bigfork schools, make it perfect for after-school theater and choir practices, Yarbrough said.

A fundraising dinner is being planned sometime this spring, but it’s the Children’s Theater productions themselves that have helped raise most of the money, he said.

“Fundraising is really when the kids are performing,” he said. “It’s really important to get people to come to the shows.”

On that note, the Bigfork Playhouse Children’s Theatre performance of “The Rockin’ Tale of Snow White” starts today for a five-show run.

The Bigfork Playhouse Children’s Theatre celebrated its 13th season last year. Under the direction of artistic director and producer Brach Thomson, the Children’s Theatre reaches more than 4,000 young people every year through productions and education.

Thomson said the foundation’s purchase offer “is a great deal” and acknowledged that Kuhn likewise made a substantial donation when he sold the initial portion of the building interest to the Children’s Theatre.

“We’ve had some wonderful supporters,” Thomson added.

Donations to help with the building purchase may be sent to Bigfork Playhouse Children’s Theatre, P.O. Box 456, Bigfork, MT 59911.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by email at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.