Mounds Theater

The Mounds Theatre Renovation is a project by the Portage for Youth which will refurbish the old Mounds Theater building into a new grassroots theater and community center for St. Paul's Dayton's Bluff neighborhood.  When completed, the theater will be used for live entertainment, movies, theater organ concerts, educational activities and neighborhood gatherings. The building is located at 1029 Hudson Road near Earl Street. Work began on the building in late 2001 and should be finished in early 2003. 

The renovation project addresses the needs of the Dayton's Bluff area at several levels-- 

• As home base for several arts and culture organizations, it will create a new "service center" in a strategically located, under-served section of the East Side 
• As a grass roots meeting and activity center, it will serve as a magnet for community building events, particularly for the neighborhood’s predominant Asian Pacific community
• As a performing arts center, the theater will provide a venue for public expression and celebration of the Daytons Bluff area's unique and diverse cultures as well as a place where area residents can experience "traveling productions" from outside their immediate neighborhood.
• Refurbishing the property will reduce the number of boarded-up buildings and blight in an under-utilized, formerly thriving commercial area.
• Refurbishing the property will create employment and entrepreneurial opportunities for area residents including the extended families of youth served by The Portage.

Several events in late 1999/early 2000 led to the development of this project--

• George Hardenbergh, owner of the former Mounds Theater building, indicated his intent to donate the property to The Portage for Youth if it would be renovated into a facility to address unmet needs of youth and families on St. Paul's East Side.
• The Portage obtained bids to determine the cost of renovating the 1920's movie theater into a community and performing arts center with office space for 3 to 4 nonprofit organizations.
• A STAR grant through the City of St. Paul was secured and a sizeable donation from an anonymous donor toward renovation costs was pledged.
• Potential nonprofit tenants and partners were involved in the planning of the new facility.

Ongoing operation of the completed facility has also been considered.  Several tenants have expressed interested in leasing space on a permanent or occasional basis.