RC Theater to be donated to Presque Isle District Library

by Peter Jakey–Managing Editor

The giving season was not quite over last week as the owners of the Rogers City Theater donated the historic movie house to the Presque Isle District Library (PIDL).

The board of directors voted unanimously at its first regular meeting of 2016 to accept the gracious offer from Karl and Mary Ann Heidemann. The board came out of executive session Jan. 6 to announce an agreement had been reached in principle.

As soon as all of the paperwork involving the transfer of property is complete, PIDL will take ownership of the building. Karl will help consult and train staff.

PIDL will lease the theater to the Heidemanns, who will continue to show first-run movies and live play productions, as well as programs involving the arts and culture, just as they have the last 12 years.

PIDL would like to continue providing the same level of entertainment, including first-run movies and live play productions, said library director Amber Clement.

Library board chairman Beach Hall said the donation was accepted with “A great deal of joy. It’s what I consider to be a very, very, generous offer to donate the facility to the library,” said Hall. “It will stay in the public domain and be used. We can do all kinds of programming in it. It will be good for everybody in the county.”

The donation includes the theater and the adjoining Super Scoop ice cream shop.