The Arlee Theater’s opening night was captured in this 1936 photograph. On April 11, the original participants and all newcomers are invited to help recreate this historic picture. Bib overalls are optional.

Mason City’s Arlee Theater celebrates its Grand Reopening April 11

[April 10, 2015]  MASON CITY - After some delays, the Arlee Theater will celebrate recent renovations with a Grand Reopening Open House Saturday, April 11, from 1 to 2 p.m. with a free showing of “Wizard of Oz (1939) at 2 p.m.

“When Art and Leah Struck opened the Arlee in 1936, they took a picture to commemorate the event,” said John Maxson of the Arlee. “Every seat was filled. We want everyone to come and see the Arlee’s renovated seating, help us recreate the photo, and become a part of Arlee history.

Maxson hopes some of the people who were youngsters in the original photo will be able to take part in this second photo-shoot, and is trying to locate them.

“If you were in this picture, or know someone who was, please contact us,” he said.

The Arlee screen has been dark while the tattered 80-year-old seats were recovered and repositioned.

“In addition to the improved seating with extra leg room, we expect to have restored a part of the neon on the Arlee marquee by then,” Maxson said. “Dave Knieriem, Lois Rickard and Ken Cox thought we shouldn’t reopen without neon and provided the funds. We are very excited to offer a more complete nostalgic Arlee experience to movie-goers for many years to come.”

The restored one-screen Art Deco theater closed in February in order to recover 300 of the original seats and replace another 50 with wider vintage seats. About 100 seats were eliminated.

“It turned out to be a much bigger job than we expected,” Maxson said.

Several volunteers gave countless hours moving the seats; refinishing 1,500 square feet of the maple floor; cleaning another 1,500 square feet of walls; repainting the marquee, ticket booth and poster display; updating the aisle lights; scraping off over a quart of dried chewing gum; and removing or replacing over 8,000 screws.

“We went through at least seven cans of WD-40 to loosen the screws,” Maxson said.

Fundraising for the Arlee improvements is ongoing. For information on how to become involved, contact John Maxson at 217-691-7229.

The Arlee Theater, 139 S. Main, Mason City, will resume regular Friday through Monday shows beginning with “Cinderella” (2015) on April 10.

[Gaye Maxson, Arlee Theater]