The Williamsburg Action Team is dedicated to improving the
opportunities of our area. As our inaugural project, we seek to
purchase, restore, and endeavor to develop Lane Theater into the future
Lane Community Theater. This venue will be a resourceful
and inclusive center for local cultural activities and a forum for
bringing concerts and cultural preservations into our area.
We are seeking to follow in the successful footsteps of the Leeds
Community Center in Winchester, and the Centerstage in the Center for
Rural Development in Somerset. We have been in touch with both
centers and were privileged to listen to four of the leading players
behind the Leeds Community Center development in Winchester. Our past Vice President, Dr. Harold Wortman, had expressed a desire to bring the
Southeastern Kentucky Fine Arts Series into the Community Theater.
After receiving a $10,000 grant to access the entertainment/cultural
interests of our area, Dyan Fairbanks reviewed thousands of surveys,
including those of students and faculty at both high schools and a
multitude of adult citizens and families. The overwhelming
conclusion was a great desire to use the Lane for a variety of suggested
purposes, as well as many new ideas for its use, and a model of
community to donate time, labor, and money in support of this community
project. People voluntarily expressed a desire to clean, restore,
work at the box office, and help "in any way" they could.
The majority of those surveyed expressed feelings about the Lane
being a part of Williamsburg and how much we needed to use it for
community purposes, including civic/club meetings, arts/crafts classes,
pop/bluegrass/country concerts, the Fine Arts Concert Series, gospel
singings, square dances, occasional dinner theater, Saturday matinees,
and a host of various activities and events that would be a great
enrichment to our area. We are more than gratified with the
response to the future Lane Community theater!
We are also very grateful to the mayor and city council for giving us support with our project. Hopefully, this
will be a project that all of us can make a contribution in helping to
create. The Action Team firmly believes in bringing our community
together in something that will be an opportunity, enhancement, and
enjoyment for all within our area. |