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Nooks and crannies, hidden portals, a trap door, narrow, winding stairwells, a rooftop lookout tower … all were featured on a recent backstage tour of the Historic Palace Theatre in Luverne Thursday.
The Palace was this month’s featured business for the Luverne Area Chamber’s series of “Love the Business” gatherings, and director Shawn Kinsinger took a small group down stairs, through the basement dressing rooms, back out through the orchestra pit and upstairs to the ballroom and museum.
Along the way he shared information with fellow Chamber members about attendance at local shows, appreciation of Palace by visitors and the importance of the historic gem to the strength of the community.
“We have a wonderful, wonderful little theater district right here. It just feels like Luverne is built for this kind of thing,” he said.
“Sterling’s is across the street, Lord Grizzly right over there, Pizza Ranch for families to have a meal, Take 16 down the road here and Bluestem for people coming in off the interstate.”
The Feb. 1 Buddy Holly Show was a good example of the quality entertainment offered at the Palace, Kinsinger said about the nearly sold-out show.
“What you saw on stage Saturday night I’d put it up against pretty much anything else you’d find in any other theater as far as quality goes,” he said.
“What we do here is exactly the kind of thing you’d see on the stage of a theater in cities, Sioux Falls or big-time theaters … that’s what we’re doing in Luverne.”
Of the 52 weeks in a year, Kinsinger said four to six weeks feature live events and the rest are movies.
He said he’s noticed increased traffic to the Palace from people out of town, especially Sioux Falls.
“We’re building a little bit of a following and momentum,” Kinsinger said. “People coming in from Sioux Falls who love the theater love the fact that you can park the car, have dinner, walk right across the street to the theater and have cocktails after the show.”
He said people have noted that it’s convenient to take in all that entertainment all in one place.
“It’s real close and all compact,” Kinsinger said. “They’re spreading the word that it’s a great venue a half hour down the interstate and you’re getting small-town prices, which is a huge advantage for us.”
He told the story about a family of eight that attended a movie at the Palace and remarked about the affordability of the outing.
They were expecting to drop well over $200, but they spent far less than that and their concessions money went a lot farther than it would have in Sioux Falls.
“When we can talk to people’s pocket books like that, it goes a long, long ways,” Kinsinger said.
“And that is something that’s getting known in communities around here. … We’re definitely working on building a name for ourselves, and that just kind of overflows into everything else we have going here in Luverne. They come down for a show and stay for everything else we have going on.”
Kinsinger also talked about future goals for the Palace.
“I would really like to see the Palace become the centerpiece of downtown and the reason people come into Luverne.
“I think the Palace is in great position to do that. You look downtown and one of the things that catches your eye is that big beautiful marquee.”
He said the first thing he’d like to do if financial donations supported it is put in an elevator.
“It would make the upper floors more accessible. A lot of people right in town have never been on the second floor of the Palace,” Kinsinger said. “It’s a wonderful space up there that I think we can do something with, and it starts with an elevator.”
He also mentioned improvements to heating and air-conditioning, water damage repair and other necessary work to make the upper floors usable, possibly as a secondary smaller local venue for meetings or “more intimate” jazz quartets.
“There would be a lot of options for that space. But we’re talking a lot of work, a lot of dollars, permission from the Historical Society,” Kinsinger said, referencing the Palace Theatre’s designation on the National Register of Historic Places.
“Myself and the board — we are in it for the long haul, and we’re going to do what we need to do to make this place succeed,” he said. “It’s had such a wonderful storied past. I would love to see its future be just as storied as its past.”
The Palace Theatre’s entertainment lineup can be found at palacetheatre.us or at 507-283-4339.