Capri Theatre - Lake City, Iowa
Met with Mary Sporleder, retired school teacher and volunteer for the theater.
Lake City is about 1,800 population. They have the only theater in Calhoun and Sac County.
Movie show times are Friday/Saturday at 7:30pm and Sundays at 2:00pm.
Attendance varies—it all depends on the movie. Mary indicated kids movies are the best. For example the theatre played “Daddy’s Home” the previous Friday night at it had 149. They have occasionally had sell outs for movies like Frozen or Nemo—they have had to turn people away before. The Capri has 397 seats. Admission is $2 for everyone adults and kids. The Capri does not show “R” rated movies. They want a family friendly theater.
The theatre is run entirely on volunteer staff. No one is paid. They have 1 ticket seller (must be 18 yrs), 1 person doing popcorn, if the movie is busy they use 2 people on pop (otherwise 1 is sufficient), and 3 student volunteers selling concessions. Mary works every Friday night and there are 3 others that volunteer just because they like too. She said that if you know you are going to have a popular move just plan ahead for staffing. Mary indicated that groups/clubs will offer to volunteer like 4-H, National Honor Society….etc…..She said they have a Board member at each movie who counts the money. She said they might have 150 volunteers in a year so you can work as much or as little as you want. Volunteers get free popcorn and pop but as a rule you pay for ALL candy-Board members as well and volunteers get to watch the movie for free also. These volunteers must stay and help clean up after the movie.
This theater was formerly a Fridley Theater and Bob gave it to the community of Lake City. The seats are all original. This theater did not have a big renovation like other towns. The building was in good condition. Initially they started with $12M donated for start up costs. They did not host fundraisers and apply for grants. The project took less than a year as the facility was all set up. The theater opened in March 2003. Since then they have done improvements with a new roof, air conditioning, and recently 2 new furnaces. These have been paid for through ticket sales and concession proceeds.
The Capri only shows movies. There are no other purposes for the theater.
Mary’s best advice for starting a theater is to look for volunteers and see who shows up. She said that if there are no volunteers, the project will not be successful. Mary said that paid people don’t work for this---that volunteers do. She also stressed to get donations of product for example. In the situation of the Capri ConAgra has donated all popcorn and oil so they have no cost in this area. She also said that having a solid Board is key to the entire project. No salaries is key. The best project is based on volunteers and a solid Board. She also recommended not to get the City involved and to keep the theater project separate from the city’s budget. Listen to the volunteers who are working when making decisions.
Additional Information:
Part of their Mission Statement was to give back to the community. Student volunteers get anywhere from a $500 to $1,000 scholarship. This is presented at Awards night. They also had a framed picture of their student volunteers and recognized them in the lobby.