Ishpeming Rotary Club grants $10,000 to Historic Vista Theater

NEGAUNEE — Over the weekend, the Ishpeming Rotary Club made a donation of $10,000 to Negaunee’s Historic Vista Theater.

The donation was presented to the theater during the Rotary’s annual Evening of Romance on Saturday.

It is the combined result of local club funds and a district matching grant. The money will primarily go toward modern seating, new flooring, updated carpeting, and other interior restoration projects for the theater.

Rotary Club President Lance Peterson says one of the reasons they wanted to give to this project is because the Vista Theater is such an important part of what brings people to this community.

“We feel that in order to be strong, the communities have to have something to draw people to the area,” said Peterson. “This will be something on the West End that won’t be just theater; it will also be other things. They’re having training for children to be involved with the productions, and they’ll also be showing old–time movies eventually along with all of the plays that are shown here.”

Vista board President Nate Heffron says they’re grateful for the Rotary Club’s generosity. He says that ensuring the best possible experience for guests is important to the future of the Vista Theater.

“We’re really grateful that the Rotary Club of Ishpeming has given us this grant to take care of the restoration project here at the Historic Vista Theater,” Heffron said. “We feel that this is important because for a long time in this theater, folks who have attended it have had some concerns about the things on the inside. And now we’re glad to see that we can actually attempt to make things better for the customer experience, and also to make people feel safer.”

The Historic Vista Theater is excited to begin the renovation projects, which are scheduled to begin after this spring’s musical.