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.
“Everybody has a part in this, no matter how modest,” Smith said. “That’s been our approach, and we’ll continue doing it that way.”
Bids for the work are expected to be solicited early next year, she said.
New hotels
Barbara Smith said Miami’s location along the Will Rogers Turnpike, coupled with the availability of hotel rooms, has resulted in an increase in visitors to the Coleman Theatre. With the addition of new hotels in Miami, occupancy has increased from 295 rooms at the end of March to more than 500 rooms.
“We’re trying to attract tourists to stay longer,” Smith said. “It really is the economic development future of our area.”
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