This story was originally featured in the Communiqué (Fall 2025 edition).

The year was 1994, and we had been on a 2-year campaign to remove the old seats in the theater (The Class of 1955 installed those, and they had served us well) and replace them with new seats. We sold sponsorships for each of the 400 seats we were going to buy. It took some time, but we sold all 400 of them. The old seats were removed, and prior to the new seats being installed, scaffolding was put up to install an up-to-date sprinkling system. 

When the scaffolding was being removed, a piece of it fell and hit the proscenium arch (the arch that frames the stage), resulting in a rather large and noticeable gouge in that beautiful Gothic arch. After the feeling of nausea subsided caused by the damage, I got to work to find a plaster artist in the Twin Cities. 

This is prior to the internet, mind you. So I opened up the Yellow Pages and began my search. I chose someone local and made the call. The next day, the man showed up. I brought him into the theater and showed him the damage. As he was standing on the stage, he looked out and said, “I have a strange feeling I have been here before”. Then he took some measurements and said he would be back within the week.

When he returned, he said to me, “I know why I remember this place. It came to me last night. My dad built that arch in 1931. He was a plaster artist, and I used to come to work with him as a kid. The floor in the theater at that time was still dirt, and as my dad went about creating the plaster details on the arch, I played with my trucks in the dirt”. 

I was stunned at my luck. I told him that we had a copy of the plans of the arch in storage, to which he replied, “I have the originals in our shop”.

The next week, that arch was completely repaired. We never saw a bill for the repairs. It was his gift to his dad to carry on the legacy he inherited.

Gregg Sawyer

Artistic Director - AHA Starlight Productions