The fate of the Richwood Opera House is still up in the air following an update from the revitalization committee.
Members of the group that was formed three years ago to investigate pathways to restoring the 133-year old building presented findings of a recent survey to village council in November.
Information came from the survey that the committee conducted earlier this year. This was the first time council heard the findings in full.
Surveys were available in person both at the fair and at the Richwood-North Union Public Library. There were also surveys available online and a total of 161 people filled out the document, which collected demographic information as well as gauged community support for the Opera House project.
Though the majority of survey participants were in favor of the revitalization project, a high percentage of those polled were people within the Richwood community.
“To establish how our community feels about the value of the Opera House, we asked if they prized the Opera House for its historic value and we asked if they would be upset if the Opera House was demolished,” said Rachel Shadel, a member of the Richwood Opera House Revitalization Committee. “Of that, our Richwood community, 95% prizes the Opera House for its historic value and even those outside our community, 76% prizes it for the historic value.”
Shadel told council that 87% of the Richwood community surveyed also said they would be willing to donate to the project by-way of a one-time donation or a monthly donation.
She added that while there was a small percentage of people – 7% – who were willing to donate more than $2,500, the majority of donations would be far smaller amounts.
Council members said they had concerns whether that sampling would be enough people and enough money to make an impact, especially following a recent construction quote that came in $19,000 over the amount the group received from a state grant to do roof repairs.
“I think if you’re going to spend $169,000, which $150,000 comes from the State of Ohio, which is still out of our pockets, too. And then you’re going to come back to the community and say, ‘hey, we put that truss in. What do you want us to do now?’ That doesn’t make a lot of sense to me,” said Council Member Pat Morse.
The $150,000 grant is supposed to be spent by next June and while that will help sure up the roof, it won’t repair the whole thing.
Shadel told council the committee had $12,000 currently in funds to add to the grant money and proposed borrowing the remaining $7,000 from council to cover the roof repairs, which she then said could be paid back next year.
“I do have faith that we will get the $7,000 based on past proceeds and fundraising,” she said, noting the committee has successfully raised thousands of dollars just in Richwood Coffee donations and other fundraising efforts.
Council members said they were ultimately torn on what to do and asked the committee to gather the final set of options.
“Let’s do that, let’s get the committee together and talk about it,” said Mayor Scott Jerew. “And I know you guys talked about it until you’re blue in the face, but let’s do that.”
Earlier this year, a consultant told the committee that the total project costs could be upwards of $2-3 million and while there are grants available, a sizable portion of that would have to come from the community.