Strand Theater to Open by Thanksgiving

The Strand opened in March 1921 with ornate ceilings and walls, showingpopular plays and movies to thousands of visitors at a time.Many years ago, there were eight theaters in the thriving city of Pontiac,which boomed as the county seat as the hometown of General Motors Corp. andother automotive maker plants.

However, over the decades, the city started to fall apart as residents movedinto the suburbs and lakefront properties. Pontiac now has one of thehighest unemployment rates in the Detroit area, and the downtown has manyvacant buildings. Tenants say they don't like the high crime rate anddifficulties in dealing with city bureaucracy.

In one of the main rebirth efforts, the city, through the Pontiac GrowthGroup, now owns the property and is engaged in demolition to build anothertheater venture, said Kim Johnson, president of the Strand Theater Center.

The group has torn down most of the interior of the Strand and the twoadjacent buildings, said Johnson. "We hope to be open on Thanksgiving," Johnson said during a tour of the facility.

She said it's going to cost $8.6 million for the rebuild by WhiteConstruction and the design firm Smith Group, and another $2 million forprogramming and funding for the non-profit organization that will run thetheater.

Public and private funding is being used, Johnson said. "We've received $1.5 million from the state, $601,000 from the department ofHousing and Urban Development, $1.5 million from the local Tax IncrementFinancing Authority and $250,000 from National City Bank, which issponsoring our lobby," Johnson said.

They will try to raise the rest of the money, she said.

The new theater, which will encompass all three of the buildings, will beowned by and leased from the city.

Now, the building is gutted. Anyone trying to open the front doors wouldfall to the mud in the former basements below, but later this year, Johnson said the theater will feature a largeatrium lobby, a community room, a jazz cabaret, a digital movie screeningroom, a 60-seat smaller theater and a 6,000-seat main theater.

"We'll put out an request for proposals for the jazz theater," Johnson said."The city's not in the business of operating a bar."