Bolstered by a grant from the Illinois Department of Commerce & Economic Opportunity (DCEO), Office of Tourism, Timber Lake Playhouse will embark on a $1.4 million capital improvement campaign over the next five years. The grant from DCEO will fund construction to winterize the theatre and lobby at TLP’s main campus, south of Mount Carroll, IL.
“The grant is a matching grant, which means, we have to raise, dollar-for-dollar, an amount equal to the grant,” said TLP Executive Director, Dan Danielowski.
The first phase of the project is to enclose and insulate the lobby and install new HVAC in the theatre. The cost for this project is estimated at $191,511.16, half of which comes from the DCEO grant.
“This grant came at a perfect time,” said Board President, Robin Saar. “We wanted to announce a capital campaign that would address the needs of the theatre for the next several years and were looking for the best way to unveil it. Receiving this grant is a great boost to start the campaign.”
The building needs addressed in the capital campaign include additional housing, rehearsal areas, and dining facilities, as well as the theatre winterization project.
“The $95,000 grant from DCEO gives us quite a jump start,” Danielowski stated. The theatre has to raise funds to match the State grant. “We have a donor who will match, dollar for dollar, all donations up to $100,000,” said Danielowski. The Willow Springs Charitable Foundation is working with TLP to match all individual donations to the campaign
“This will help us to raise the total amount of money that TLP has to raise, to match the DCEO grant for this project,” said Saar.
One of the goals of this project is for Timber Lake Playhouse to extend its theatre production season from May into December. Danielowski and Artistic Director Paul Stancato are now looking at programming for the fall and winter. “We are committed to programming through December at this point,” said Stancato. Another goal is to add badly needed housing and rehearsal space. “We presently have three shows in rehearsal and one in production,” stated Stancato. “As we grow, we need more space to rehearse and additional housing for company members.”
If you are interested in helping Timber Lake Playhouse reach their goals, call the box office at 815-244-2035 or contribute online at www.timberlakeplayhouse.org. Contributions can be mailed to Timber Lake Playhouse, 8215 Black Oak Road, Mount Carroll, IL 61053.
Questions can be directed to Dan Danielowski at 815-244-2048. Details of the project can be found on the website at www.timberlakplayhouse.org.