Several nights a week, the silver screen at the Norgan Theatre flickers with images of the hottest actors in Hollywood.
However, at this unique Palmerston movie house, the real stars of the show are found behind the scenes.
At the Norgan, volunteers literally run the show. They take tickets, sell popcorn, clean up and even operate the projector. For this community, it’s all about a passion for movie-going and keeping alive the legacy of the 65-year-old venue they rallied to save from the wrecking ball five years ago.
The theatre’s story is deeply ingrained in the town’s history.
The Norgan Theatre was built with a $50,000 donation from George Norgan, a wealthy Vancouver businessman with roots in Palmerston who wanted to do something special for his hometown.
An estimated 5,000 people were reported to have attended the opening of the theatre in 1947. Volunteers had planned a full day of events, and the first movie, Carnival in Costa Rica, featuring Dick Haymes and Celeste Holmes, and a selection of “shorts” ran throughout the day.
For over 50 years, the theatre served the community, bringing movies featuring stars like Al Jolsen, Ginger Rogers, Harrison Ford and countless others to the big screen in the small town.
In July of 2005, an engineering audit identified a number of safety and structural issues at The Norgan, the last municipally-owned theatre in Ontario and perhaps the only one in Canada.
Prior to the closure, it had been operating at a loss for a number of years. Spending more than $300,000 to repair it was not an automatic decision for the local council, which closed it down.
While various options were explored, including moving the theatre’s projection equipment to another venue, local citizens responded with a passionate campaign to save the original theatre.
Numerous meetings between municipal officials and community advocates eventually resulted in a plan to restore the Norgan and operate it with community volunteers.
Palmerston resident Bob McEachern, one of the driving forces behind the campaign to save the theatre, recalls the town had agreed to commit about $120,000 from the sale of a local property to the restoration project. Local fundraising efforts had generated another $28,000.
“There was one big meeting, where it came down to council wanting a firm commitment of financial viability from the volunteers,” said McEachern.
“Then a note was passed down from the back,” indicating the Palmerston Lions Club would contribute $30,000 to the effort.
“That did it,” said McEachern. “When the Palmerston Lions give their word you basically know they’ll come through and when they came forward, council was sold.”
The gap between the cost of the project and the funds raised left about $150,000 in the form of a loan agreement between the town and the volunteer Norgan committee. Successful operation in the intervening five years has cut the outstanding amount in half, down to about $74,000.
With the decision to restore the Norgan made, a contractor was hired to complete exterior repairs and remedy structural issues. Then it was turned over to the volunteers, and work crews were organized.
“We spent every Saturday in here and one night a week. We ripped everything out,” said Scott McFadden, who later learned how to operate the equipment and became one of the volunteer projectionists.
Training projectionists was another hurdle, said McEachern. That obstacle was overcome with the assistance of Minto resident Bill Young, who owned and operated the Harriston Drive-In Theatre for many years, and Bill Van Oostveen, who had worked as a projectionist at the Norgan prior to its closure in 2005.
Although serving as one of the theatre’s volunteer projectionists has been time-consuming (projectionists began receiving a nominal honorarium only in the past year), for McFadden, the effort is well worth it.
“The first day we moved to town my brother and I came in here to watch a movie. I just love the theatre,” he said.
Nov. 2 marked the fifth anniversary of the first movie shown at the restored Norgan Theatre: the animated hit Shrek the Third. An official open house to celebrate the re-opening was held on Dec. 3, 2007.
With volunteers handling the bulk of the work, the theatre has been generating an operating profit, which allows the committee to continue to whittle down the debt from the original loan from the town.
The volunteers who make it happen have a variety of reasons for participating.
“I saw a lot of movies here,” said Susan Welsh, who was present at the original opening of the Norgan Theatre in 1947. She still carries a clipping of a photograph of herself, at age seven, which appeared in the Toronto Telegram coverage of the opening.
“Many of us who were here when we were kids want to preserve it,” said Welsh. “It’s our heritage. It was given to us.”
“The people of the town know they have something special,” said Hervey Shank, noting the Norgan provides “a sense of pride of community.”
Shank enjoyed showing off the theatre to a visitor from Guelph.
“She was surprised to learn that a little town would have something like this. She really enjoyed it – the whole atmosphere.”
“It’s always been a centerpiece of Palmerston downtown. The kids of the community have been coming here forever,” said McEachern, a retired educator who believes it’s important to provide activities for young people, particularly in a small town.
It takes at least five volunteers to handle each screening at the theatre. Teams work under crew captains and take turns manning the show.
“There’s been some changes and there’s been some turnover, but we always seem to have a strong level of volunteers. It’s a sense of pride and community ownership, which is great for a community theatre,” said Minto recreation services manager Matthew Lubbers.
He added the municipality recently had to make the decision to switch from reel-to-reel equipment, which was rapidly becoming obsolete, to a digital projection system.
With the movie industry switching to digital and 35mm prints expected to become unavailable as soon as next year, council approved a $62,000 investment in new projection equipment in September. Part of the funds came from the town’s capital budget, but some also came from Norgan reserves, contributions from the Palmerston Agricultural Society, the Palmerston Lions and the Mayor’s Charity Golf Tournament, at which Norgan volunteers helped out.
The existence of strong, on-going volunteer support was a key element in the town’s decision to make the upgrades, said Lubbers.
“The town provides some administrative support, but on the weekends it’s all volunteer driven. If the volunteerism had dropped off, it would have made the decision to go digital much harder,” he stated, adding, “It was go digital or go home.”
McEachern points out the revamped Norgan was designed as a multi-use facility.
“It’s set up to be used as a lecture hall if one of the colleges or universities wanted a place to do that,” said McEachern, noting the theatre has been rented for presentations by speakers to a variety of companies and organizations.
It’s also been used for musical, comedy and other types of live entertainment presentations on numerous occasions.
The theatre is also rented out as a venue for birthday parties. In that case, it’s not always a movie that’s playing. A Wi-Fi connection allows party-goers to play video games on the Norgan’s giant screen.
In addition to regular weekend showings of new release movies, the Norgan is also host to the Big Film Fest, an ongoing series that presents contemporary independent films on a monthly basis. The festival is a part of the Toronto International Film Festival’s film circuit.
As well, the Treasures of Minto movie series was recently introduced by the Minto Cultural Roundtable organization. The series features weeknight showings of less mainstream offerings than the regular weekend fare and an admission by donation policy.
For example, the next offering, on Dec. 6 at 7pm, is Deadman, a 1995 western starring an eclectic cast that includes Johnny Depp, Billy Bob Thornton, Iggy Pop and Robert Mitchum. The film is shot entirely in black-and-white. Neil Young composed the soundtrack, including portions he improvised while watching the movie footage.
Whatever’s on the screen, the heart of the Norgan remains a dedicated group of volunteers who keep the magic of the movies alive in their hometown – for the community, and for their kids.
“Most of them do it for their kids or their grand kids,” says McEachern, “They need somewhere to go.”
New volunteers are always welcome and anyone interested in helping out may email norgan@norgantheatre.com.
More information on the Norgan theatre may be found at www.norgantheatre.com.
