TAKING THAT CHANCE

Community rallies behind woman in her quest to save The Howard Theatre

TAYLOR — Last fall, when Taylor Soap Bar owner Channing Kingery-Boles first entertained the notion of buying and renovating the historic Howard Theatre across the street from her shop, it seemed like a pretty farfetched idea.

With almost no money to work with, no background in historic preservation and no group of deep-pocketed investors to draw from, Kingery-Boles launched an improbable quest to buy the aging movie house at 308 N. Main St. through a combination of liquidating her store inventory, raiding her family’s 401k and launching several small-dollar fundraising campaigns online.

“I didn’t know anything about these things,” said Kingery-Boles, a Taylor transplant who has sold handmade bath products and other artisanal gifts at her shop since 2021. “I just took the chance, but the thing is, now so many people are taking that chance with me.”

The movie venue, which once also housed the Rita Theater from 1940-1956, has remained closed since 2022, when several pipes burst and flooded the entire first floor.

“I just took the chance, but the thing is, now so many people are taking that chance with me.”

— CHANNING KIINGERY-BOLES OWNER Kingery-Boles said her goal is to reopen for movie showings by January 2025, which will be one year after she closed on the property through an ownerfinanced

deal.

Though Kingery-Boles has already succeeded in renovating the theater’s lobby through her own sweat and toil—as well as donations, renting out the marquee and community bake sales—many more repairs, including to the roof, heating, air conditioning and electrical systems, are urgently needed, she said.

“When Channing first started, I thought, ‘Gosh, this is going to be difficult,’” said Mike Kaspar, an early supporter of the effort who recently paid out of his own pocket for a company to help navigate the legal hurdles associated with forming a nonprofit organization called “Friends of the Howard Theatre.”

“You are going to do $5 here, $10 here,” Kaspar said. “How difficult is this going to be? A lot of faith was involved.”

KEEPING THE FAITH

Nonetheless, that faith has begun to pay off. Last spring, Friends of the Howard received its 501(c)(3) status from the Internal Revenue Service—a key tool for enabling those who donate money or services toward renovations to receive a tax deduction.

The organization, with Kaspar at the helm, already has five board members, including Kingery-Boles, as well as a lawyer and several others with strong backgrounds in historic preservation.

Kaspar, the former science director for Washington, D.C. public schools, said he hopes they will also be able to provide youngsters and other community members with educational programs and other learning opportunities in tandem with the for-profit venture.

One motivation for Kaspar getting involved was remembering with dismay how a spectacular mansion near his childhood home in downtown Taylor had fallen into ruin and wanting to preserve the theater where he had spent so much of his youth during the 1960s and ‘70s.

“I just lived a few blocks away,” Kaspar said. “During the summer, when it would be so hot, as a kid, I could walk down to the Howard Theatre and be in a wonderful, cool, dark place and see something—usually something really scary. I would especially go on Wednesdays because it would be a 50-cent-day double feature, and we could watch Hammer movies.”

Hammer Film Productions, a British company, earned renown for its fright flicks depicting Dracula, Frankenstein’s monster, the mummy and other chilling creatures.

Kaspar said he even attended the first showing of the blaxploitation crime drama “Super Fly,” released in 1972, after the cinema was integrated.

“[Segregation] was a thing I found strange as a kid,” he said. “It wasn’t until 1968 that it became integrated, and everyone could sit together.”

LABOR OF LOVE

Herb Stratford, president of Historic Theatre Consultants, which has overseen the restoration of dozens of historic theaters across the country, said while the nonprofit organization will benefit the community, even the for-profit aspect of this endeavor is more like a labor of love than anything else.

“These are not projects where somebody goes to make a bunch of money,” Stratford said. “They are sort of loss leaders for downtown, or they can be. That’s not fair to say that they are all loss leaders. But the investment in the property a lot of times comes back with a multiplier to other economic engines.”

Kaspar, who also considered buying the property himself, agrees that Kingery-Boles is taking this chance for the greater good.

“You know Channing is going to do the right thing,” Kaspar said. “But you have to know her.”

For her part, Kingery-Boles said she hopes this venture will also provide an economic shot in the arm for other small businesses—including her own— as the city waits for Samsung Austin Semiconductor and other major projects, including the Taylor campus of the University of Texas at Austin, to come online.

“I would hope that people would go to the movies, and then they would go to the restaurants, and then they would come out and shop,” Kingery-Boles said. “You know I feel like that can kind of complete the puzzle of what we have downtown because we have all of those things already, and I feel like The Howard is just kind of that cherry on top.”

SETTING THE HOWARD APART

Still, with the recent groundbreaking of EVO Entertainment in Hutto, a 53,000-square-foot entertainment venue with eight theaters, Kingery-Boles is looking for creative ways to set The Howard Theatre apart, including offering affordably themed movie nights with singalongs, and even serving wine and beer.

“Even stepping into a 100-year-old theater, that’s an experience, so we have that over those places already,” she said. “Those places are wonderful places, but they also come with very high price tags.”

Regina Jo Carlson, vice president of Taylor Economic Development Corp., confirmed that Kingery-Boles has been approved for up to $50,000 in grants for renovations for the historic property.

“Revitalization of the Howard Theater will bring back history and memories of a landmark in our community,” she said. “Economically it will enhance the historical downtown and add viability. I am very excited about this project and have so many memories of the Howard Theater growing up.”

Carlson, a self-described “Taylor girl,” said she remembers seeing the musical “Grease” when it first came out in 1978.

Kingery-Boles said this grant will be used not only to renovate the theater but also to help the local economy.

“I am both humbled and grateful to the TEDC, and specifically Regina Jo Carlson, in being awarded this generous infrastructure grant to revitalize the Howard Theatre,” Kingery-Boles said. “I am excited about what lies ahead for The Howard, and I plan on keeping these dollars in the community by using local contractors to assist me in bringing back the Howard for all of the past, present and future citizens of Taylor.”

Steven McAllister, the owner of Granite Hills Plumbing in Taylor, spent two days fixing leaks and a few drains for free even before it was possible to write off the donations for tax purposes, Kingery-Boles said.

McAllister said he was happy to help, a sentiment that goes back to his early economic experiences at the Howard.

“It was nice to not have to go to Round Rock and spend an arm and a leg on a movie when you can come to Taylor for five bucks and see a movie,” McAllister said.

There is one memory of the Howard he will always cherish, he said.

“That’s actually where I had my first kiss with my now-wife back in high school,” McAllister said. “It’s good that someone actually cares about it and is passionate about it.”

Kingery-Boles said generous gifts like these are becoming more and more common. She said in addition to thousands in donations, people have contributed everything from new door locks, cans of paint, glass and even a new popcorn machine for the concession stand. She has recently received free services with painting and HVAC, and there is also a roofer who is considering getting onboard with the effort as well.

Still, Stratford said it was very lucky for historic-theater enthusiasts that Kingery-Boles came along when she did.

“You almost need that firecracker, and she has just been really great for the project,” Stratford said. “And based on what I can tell, it doesn’t seem like there would have been any other way for this to happen without her. It probably would have been like what we see around the whole country. We see these properties get to a point of no return from a neglect status, and then it’s demolition by neglect.”

For her part, Kingery-Boles gives all the credit to the community in Taylor.

“I have been so blessed,” Kingery-Boles said. “To have all these wonderful people around doing whatever people can do to make this happen ... It’s like this [European folk tale] ‘Stone Soup.’ Maybe I had the big pot and the stone and the water, but everybody else is throwing in their carrots and their celery and potatoes — and that’s really what is happening here.”