The Woodland Theatre Receives Support for Upcoming Projects

The Woodland Theatre, built in Kettle Falls in 1940, is the main performance site for Woodland Productions, a nonprofit community of local performing artists. Thanks to donations from grants, Friends of Woodland Theatre, and other major donors, the theatre now has the funds needed to complete upgrades. 

The building has passed through many incarnations over the years. According to Peggy Townley, Woodland Productions member since 1978, the building was constructed by Henry Wood as a movie theater until the early 1950s, when it started losing money. Townley speculated the advent of TV contributed to its inability to sustain customers. When business slowed, she reported, “Wood’s son came and took it over as a Volkswagen dealership and theatre. They built an apartment on the back of the theatre, and below it they put in a greasepit repair shop.” She continued, “The last film showed there in 1954, and then it sat idle until the early 1970s, when the Old Mission Art Gallery purchased it for $11,000. They were running the building and we came in and started to do some productions. Eventually, in the late 1970s, the Old Mission sold it to Woodland Productions for $1 because they were running out of money to do repairs.”

Townley said many repairs have been done over the years to sustain the theatre, including a new roof in the 1970s; now it’s time to update again. “It’s over 50 years old. It’s an open air roof and bats have been nesting in there. It’s not up to code,” she said, admitting concerns about the open eaves making it more susceptible to catch fire if embers got in there.

An enclosed roof would be heavier though, affecting the weight on the walls, which have already started to bow. She said, “The Old Mission Art Gallery recognized the walls bowing and they put cables in to stabilize them, but the cables stretched.”

According to Townley, engineers recommended they replace the cables with rods, which they received $10,000 in grant money from the Innovia Foundation to help fund. "The total cost will be about $35,000,” she stated, noting that they have also received donations from local donors.

She said, “The rods will not stretch and will strengthen the structure to prepare for a heavier roof replacement planned for 2027-2029 with help from WA State Heritage Capital funds. The new roof will be gently sloped to the east to prevent snow build-up toward our neighbors to the west. It will have enclosed soffits to keep out the bats and insects and be up to code.”

Plans also include “recreating the tower that was on the original theatre when it was a movie house,” Townley shared. She said they received a $10,000 donation toward those efforts from Eden Davidson, who was in the ‘Into the Woods’ performance in 2024.

Townley added, “We have a screen at the theatre and have shown movies. We have a good sound system, but it’s not the same as the Alpine [Theater in Colville].” She emphasized that their main focus is music and theatre.  

Townley also discussed how she and her husband participate in productions. “I mostly like to sing; I have been in a few musicals, sing in the chorus, and I play flute in the concert band. My husband is a trombonist, and he sings too,” she said.

“One of the amazing things about the theatre is that it is an acoustic gem. We do not mic our performances; people can hear you at the back of the theatre. I don’t know what makes it a good theatre, but it is a good theatre,” Townley concluded.

Their next production is Handel's Messiah, which runs on Saturday, Dec. 6, at 7 p.m., and Sunday, Dec. 7, at 2 p;m. For more information about Woodland Theatre, visit woodlandproductions.org/index.html.