Wed, Nov 25 2009
|
|
Published November 16, 2008 11:53 pm - MIAMI, Okla. — The historic Coleman Theatre in Miami has been named the top tourist attraction in Northeast Oklahoma by the Grand Lake Association. Barbara Smith, executive director of the Coleman, accepted the award at a banquet last week at the Cherokee Yacht Club on Grand Lake. The association receives state matching funds to promote tourism in the area. Theater honored as tourist draw By Debbie Robinson
news@joplinglobe.com MIAMI, Okla. — The historic Coleman Theatre in Miami has been named the top tourist attraction in Northeast Oklahoma by the Grand Lake Association. Barbara Smith, executive director of the Coleman, accepted the award at a banquet last week at the Cherokee Yacht Club on Grand Lake. The association receives state matching funds to promote tourism in the area. Smith said the Coleman, which opened in 1929 as a vaudeville palace and movie theater, continues to draw increased tourism each year. Its proximity along Route 66 attracts many visitors. “About 60 percent of our audiences are from out of town,” she said. “It’s just an extraordinary facility.” The theater was build by George L. Coleman Sr., a local mining executive, in the Louis XV style. Smith and the Friends of the Coleman organization are hoping to make the theater even more grand by spending $1.6 million to complete its upstairs ballroom, and make it available for conferences and receptions. “We’ve still got a long way to go with the fund raising, but we’re excited,” Smith said. The group has raised about $1.2 million in private donations and grants, she said. “We’ve been working over the past three years to raise the funds,” Smith said. The work also is to include an addition on the north side that will house an elevator and more rooms, plus a second entrance. “This is a gift to the next generation,” Smith said. Donations have been received in small and large amounts, and donors may establish a payment plan. 
•
Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.
More from the Local News section
|
Print this story
E-mail this story
Post to del.icio.us
Discuss this story
Fire destroys Joplin tire business w/ fire slide show
 |
 |
: Special Offer For New Subscribers
:
 |
||||||||
|
||||||||
 |
|
|
Published by Newspaper Holding, Inc. 117 East Fourth Street, Joplin, MO 64801 Using our site is your agreement to the terms and conditions. News: news@joplinglobe.com • (417)623-3480 Advertise with the Joplin Globe Copyright © 2006 The Joplin Globe, Joplin, MO All rights reserved. 
|
Popular Business directory links - Joplin Apartments | Joplin Attorneys | Joplin Auto Dealers | Joplin Auto Parts | Joplin Auto Repair | Joplin Beauty Salons | Joplin Car Rental | Joplin Dentists | Joplin Doctors | Joplin Flowers | Joplin Hotels | Joplin Insurance | Joplin Loans | Joplin Mortgages | Joplin Movers | Joplin Pizza | Joplin Realtors | Joplin Restaurants | Joplin Storage | Joplin Tax Preparation | Joplin Travel | Joplin Featured | More...
|
|
Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc. • CNHI Classified Advertising Network • CNHI News Service |
