By Sheila Stogsdill

news@joplinglobe.com

MIAMI, Okla. - Members of the board overseeing the Coleman Theatre learned Tuesday that a $250,000 grant has been received, said Barbara Smith, executive director of the theater.

"The grant will complete the balcony project, and with the exception of a few smaller items, the restoration of the Coleman Theatre will be competed," Smith said.

The balcony holds seating for 500, she said. The project is expected to begin in January and be completed in a year, she said.

The 16-year, $4.5 million restoration projected is overseen by the Miami Downtown Redevelopment Authority, a trust appointed by the city.

The grant comes from the Albert W. Cherne Foundation of Edina, Minn., which has awarded the theater restoration group several smaller grants in the past, Smith said.

"The Coleman Theatre is the last great vaudeville theater palace in Oklahoma," she said. "There are others, but not as grand."

Also expected to be completed in 2007 is the 5,000-square-foot ballroom on the second floor, she said.

Other renovations include adding a kitchen, small breakout rooms, restrooms, an elevator and access to the mezzanine of the main theater.

The ballroom was vacant and unfinished for 40 years before a federal grant and private donations of $1 million were secured, Smith said.

Proms, weddings, reunions and business gatherings are among the events Smith envisions as uses for the second floor.

Coleman tenants

George Coleman built the theater in 1929. Several years later, the local Masonic Lodge burned down, and Coleman, a Mason, offered the use of the uncompleted second floor to the Masons until they could build a lodge of their own. Thirty years later, the Masons purchased their own property and the second floor of the Coleman became vacant.

Source: Barbara Smith, Coleman Theatre executive director