Heating, Ventilation & Air Conditioning

Have you ever been too hot or cold in the State Theater? Our HV/AC system was expensive and inefficient. One of four units had died. The other three were limping to keep up with the building's needs and our power bills skyrocketed as a result. To add insult to injury, one of the units became so noisy that we couldn't run it during performances. Then two of the three semi-functional units froze up during rehearsals for THE LOVE LIST and the interior temperature dropped to 40 degrees. If this had happened during performances, we would have had to close the show.

Fortunately for everyone, we successfully completed the installation of a brand new heating/air conditioning system in July, 2007. Now we're warm as toast in the winter, cool as a cucumber in the summer, and we're saving lots of money while we're at it. Thank you to Oliver Reconstruction, Sunset Air, Reliable Electric, Building for the Arts, and the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust.

Roof Replacement including Insulation

The roof has also passed its useful life and leaks badly over the stage, lighting system and storage areas. It is a flat roof with water bubbles under the membrane. It is also uninsulated. Our insurance company inspected the building recently and told us to either fix the roof or lose our insurance. The building itself is not in danger, since the entire thing is built out of concrete and steel, but the membrane covering it is shot and the interior is threatened. The new roof will keep the rain out and include 4" of rigid foam insulation to increase heating efficiency. It will save us lots of dollars, protect our home and equipment and make our revered audience much more comfortable. This is our current top priority.

Administrative Offices

Our staff used to share a makeshift office area on the tech deck. See us working there up above the auditorium and stage? Zero privacy. Noisy and cramped. (Imagine trying to do business on the phone while the sound designer is setting volume levels for the blood-curdling screams in THE WOMAN IN BLACK.) It was freezing in the winter.

But recently we removed a large stairway next to the lobby that most people had never seen and created two brand new, private, warm, well-lit, comfortable offices. Thanks to the Ben B. Cheney Foundation, Oliver Reconstruction and Reliable Electric.

Box Office Remodel

When we bought the the State Theater, our current box office space was rented by a pottery co-op. We didn't want to kick them out and they didn't want to leave. A week before opening, however, they changed their minds and moved. With no budget and no plan, we created a "box office" in two days. After living with it for over seven years, we have a better idea that will increase efficiency, storage and audience comfort.

Dressing Rooms

Our current dressing room was the default, backup, quick-fix alternative to our original dressing room plan, which was axed due to some surprises late in the initial remodel of the building in 1998. It serves six comfortably. With casts of up to 23, it's a joke. Within a few months of opening, we came up with a "temporary" solution. Ingenious, really, but after seven years the fire department decided it we couldn't call it temporary anymore and encouraged us to upgrade it to meet fire code. We're almost done! Thanks to Reliable Electric and Knight FIre Protection.

Restore the Marquee

The marquee needed additional repairs. The paint was faded and peeling. Rust was doing its work. The neon had gone out. And a recent storm broke the plexiglas reader board. It got better.Thanks to Daniel Flint Painting and Reliable Electric.

Technical Upgrades

We're making progress here. We've made improvements to our sound and lighting systems (thank you Lassen Foundation), our computer system and phone system. We have some additional lighting, shop and computer improvements make, but help from the Lassen Foundation and Community Foundation has improved things immensely already.

Retire the Mortgage - $500,000

This is a big one. Our mortgage was draining $50,000/year from operations. We'd like to retire it completely. As of November 1, 2007, we've successfully reduced it to under $300,000. Thanks to our fabulous audience for helping us rid ourselves of this burden so we can dedicate our resources to what we do best: creating Real. Live. Theater.

Thank You.