November 10, 2025 • 15 mins
We trace the rebirth of a historic downtown theater into Wareham Hall, a flexible, high-tech home for performance, learning, and community. Blade Mages lays out the $40M plan, the acoustic and rigging innovations, and how donors and partners make the vision real.
• renaming the opera house to a community hall
• origins of the project and early ambitions
• fundraising strategy and historic tax credits
• cost drivers, square footage, and value
• fully motorized rigging and show control
• adjustable room acoustics for amplified and acoustic shows
• object-oriented mixing and spatial sound
• construction timeline and the marquee coming down
• nonprofit governance and broad donor base
• limited public funds and streetscape changes
• community impact and vision for 2027
Follow us online, Facebook or Instagram. We will be putting updates up just about every day
Wearhamhall.org has a lot of detailed information where you can find out more about that effort
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_01 (00:00):
Philanthropy Today is brought to you by the Greater
Manhattan Community Foundation.
In this episode, we feature arecently broadcast segment of
the GMTF Community Hour, asheard on News Radio KMAN.
We are back with the GMTFCommunity Hour here on News
Radio KMAN.
Hey, thanks for joining us herethis morning.
(00:20):
Blade Mages.
Man, I've known you for a longtime, dude.
It has been number 19 when Ifirst met you.
SPEAKER_00 (00:27):
I think that's right.
That was uh at the uh the Vistain Is that what it was?
Yeah, Vista meetings, talkingabout weddings and video stuff.
SPEAKER_01 (00:35):
And you're just a simple videographer back in
those days.
I was just uh looking with acamera.
SPEAKER_00 (00:40):
Uh not much has changed.
SPEAKER_01 (00:42):
Oh, no, you're still a kid with a camera.
That's probably the fun part.
But but you know, the impactthat you have made here, you got
such great vision and passionfor this community, and we
commend you for that.
Thank you uh greatly for doingthat.
And and now you've got um gosh,this is kind of like a hallmark
project for you, isn't it?
SPEAKER_00 (01:01):
This is uh quite the privilege to get uh to get to
say that I work on a uh an iconin this community, uh,
especially as uh you know,somewhat sort of my first quote
unquote development project.
Uh it's a it's a doozy.
Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (01:16):
Wareham Hall.
You know, it's known as theWareham Opera House.
And and and why Wareham Hall?
SPEAKER_00 (01:21):
Well, it's been known as a lot of things.
Uh it actually goes way backbefore just the Opera House.
So when it was first built,believe it or not, it was called
the Coliseum.
Uh, and then it was Moore'sOpera House, and then it was
Wareham's Opera House, and thenit was the electric, and then it
was the Wareham Theater.
And then back in the 80s, theysaid, well, let's go back to
calling it Wareham Opera House.
Uh why Wareham Hall?
(01:43):
Uh a couple of reasons.
First, we wanted to, we wantedto make our mark on um, you
know, the the symbolism of thechange.
Uh, but two, um, you know, thethe concept of an opera house
sometimes might be a little bitum it might preclude certain
people from thinking it mighthave something of interest for
them, right?
And so uh the idea of being ahall, a place that's uh, you
(02:04):
know, multifaceted in terms ofthe the types of performances it
can uh host, the types of eventsthat could take place there.
Uh really I like the idea that ahall is is is a space for the
community.
Uh and that's really what whatwe're trying to create.
SPEAKER_01 (02:18):
What was it about this that intrigued you and gave
you this spark to I mean, you'vebeen working on this for what, a
couple of years, three years?
This will be the we're we're inthe fifth year, but we're gonna
when you and I first startedtalking about this when
everybody first started talkingabout it, it's just like this
seems so grandiose, you know,and everybody's thinking, oh,
(02:38):
new paint job, you know, maybesome new carpet.
That was what we were thinkingin the beginning, too.
Yeah.
So the And then you got inspiredby some discoveries you made in
your search through thebuilding.
SPEAKER_00 (02:48):
We we did.
So it it really, I mean, youknow, my connection to this
building goes back all the wayto 2008 or nine.
Uh one of my first clients herein Manhattan was uh the previous
owner of the building.
And uh his nephew and I uhbecame quite close and we both
love movies and we both lovemusic, and uh, and it was that
passion, uh, but we were a bunchof you know bachelors that
(03:10):
didn't know anything, but we hada lot of energy and a lot of
passion, and we said, Oh, thisneeds to be something.
And and uh it never did becauseuh we didn't know how to pull
that off.
But um, so that was kind of partone.
Uh part two was that ever sinceI was, you know, three feet
tall, uh, I have had thisconnection to live music and
performance that uh it's justinexplicable for me.
(03:31):
Um and then the third was uh,you know, through my work with
the agency uh that I'd started,I've been very privileged to
make a lot of wonderfulconnections, to meet a lot of
the philanthropists that makeManhattan the city we know it to
be.
And so I kind of felt like I hadthe right three ingredients to
maybe give this a shot.
So in 2021, we got prettyserious about seeing if the
(03:53):
owner would sell, about seeingif the donors would support it,
and about, you know, seeing whatthis thing could become.
But yeah, in the beginning, wethought, oh, you know, six,
seven million bucks for all newHVAC plumbing, paint job, we'll
clean this thing up.
And here we are breaking groundon an over$40 million project.
That's huge.
SPEAKER_01 (04:12):
It's very huge, very, very huge.
Is that just like I mean, whenyou when you when you now talk
about$40 billion, is that justlike uh give you the heat to be
able to do that?
SPEAKER_00 (04:22):
It's it's not even real.
Yeah.
It's not even real.
It's it's uh, you know, it's uhwhen you consider, you know, a
lot of a lot of folks kind ofquestion the budget overall.
Hey, well, how'd we how'd it getso expensive?
A big part of it was theaddition of the the space to the
west.
We doubled our square footage.
Um so when when we look at theoverall actual square foot,
we're almost a 40,000 squarefoot building.
(04:44):
And so it's about it's about athousand bucks a square foot,
which 10 years ago would soundinsane, but post-COVID, uh, you
know, construction prices areabsolutely crazy.
And and so really, if you lookat the value we're getting out
of this place, it's it's really,I mean, in the grand scheme of
things, it's a pretty good deal.
I heard a story of a of a of abank, a retail bank that got
(05:06):
built not too long ago, and itwas$750 a square foot.
So when you consider that we'rebuilding for$1,000 a square foot
a state of the art, you'reyou're not gonna know what to do
with how advanced some of thistechnology is.
It's so, so cool.
The fact that we're getting thatfor, you know, a modest 25% more
than what this bank was builtfor.
I think that I think that says alot about the design team, a lot
(05:27):
about BHS and their ability tohelp us, you know, maximize our
donors' dollars, maximize ourhistoric tax credits to make
this project possible.
SPEAKER_01 (05:35):
You know, we talk about this, and you know,
leading into this, I was just inVegas, as you know, and I went
to go see Wizard of Oz at thesphere, which that's a whole
nother conversation.
It's amazing if you get thechance to go, which you are, I
understand.
I am you're gonna absolutely beblown away.
What we have here at the Museumof Art and Light, they have
something similar in Vegascalled the Art Museum, very
technically advanced and justabsolutely mind-blowing.
(05:59):
So, what will the Worm Hall,upon its completion, be able to
provide?
SPEAKER_00 (06:05):
Yeah, the the main so we will be a fully
professional stage, first andforemost.
So um when you think of when youthink of a Broadway theater,
when you think of a stage withrigging, much much like McCain
with rigging and curtains andlights, you know, we will have
all of that stuff.
One one key difference that thatkind of puts us in our own uh
category is that our riggingsystem, uh, that'll be uh fully
(06:28):
motorized.
And so if you need to fly inpieces of scenery or curtains or
drapes or lighting effects, uhthat stuff can all be
programmed.
That can all be done in a waythat's actually a lot safer than
traditional rigging systems, butit's also in a way that's
really, really advanced.
So from a learning standpoint,we're gonna be able to put, you
know, students uh, you know, incharge of of pieces of equipment
(06:51):
that that you know exist out inin much bigger, more advanced
theaters.
So that's kind of the therigging side is is probably
first.
But you have to do that in orderto keep up with the performers
and the production.
You know, there are there aresome productions where their
entire show and the rigging thatgoes with it, it's actually just
uh synced to a time code.
And so they can you can hitstart, and then that whole
(07:12):
system is just programmed, itknows when to move up and move
down and close curtains and opencurtains.
Um it's it's pretty prettyimpressive.
Um the second part, the one thatI'm probably more more uh uh
giddy, I get a little I get alittle giddy when I think about
this.
So when we uh when we thinkabout what we're trying to do
with this space, and and youknow sound, you're a you're a
(07:34):
you're a sound guy.
So um much like the room thatwe're in right now, if you're
gonna have amplifiedperformance, you need a space
that's somewhat dead, right?
So if you you not a lot of echo,not a lot of uh reverberation.
Because when you charge thatroom up with energy through
sound waves, it just bounces allover the place.
And so you need to absorb thatso that you can actually hear
(07:56):
with clarity what's coming fromthe speakers.
However, if you want to host anacoustic performance, no
amplification, something like asymphony, uh, you know, a
soloist, piano, concerto,whatever that might be, uh,
those types of performances, youknow, those originated at a time
when amplification didn't exist.
And so did the theater, right?
The theater was built, theversion of it we know today
(08:18):
really has bones of 1910.
They didn't have amplificationthen that was used in that
context.
So it it's very reverberanttoday.
So what we're gonna be doingwhen finished is blending these
two spaces.
And and what you'll be able todo is as a performer, you will
be able to effectively dial inthe reverb of the room, which
(08:40):
has awesome, awesome uh uhimplications for for education.
For if you want to know what itfeels like to perform at
Carnegie Hall, we'll be able todial that setting in, you know,
in that building.
And and that performer won'tneed a microphone.
You won't see a microphone thatwon't exist, but all of a
sudden, that entire room willhave this fullness and richness.
And then you can flip a switchand be ready for uh a rock band
(09:03):
that night or uh uh a rave, youknow, with with subwoofers
shaking everybody's guts.
I mean, it's it's uh it'll bevery, very versatile.
Um the other thing on that soundpiece is that, you know, I think
you and I probably both grew upwith analog mixing and and and
left right and maybe a centerchannel, right?
Right.
(09:25):
The system in the future willwill utilize a technology called
object-oriented mixing.
And so you will be able to placejust with your ears, not your
eyes, where on stage sounds arecoming from, not just left to
right, but depth.
You'll be able to hear that thatpiano is behind that guitar,
that tuba is behind that stringsound.
(09:46):
Almost a three stereoscopicexperience that you get to share
with everybody in that room.
It's phenomenal.
SPEAKER_01 (09:54):
You know, they dabbled with hot doorphonic
albums back in the 70s.
SPEAKER_00 (10:00):
I don't even know what that means.
Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (10:02):
That was a whole different uh yeah, it was
short-lived.
But uh, I mean, uh so muchtechnology.
Yeah.
That uh and and and as a guywho's a little bit of a tech
geek, you know, I just yeah, I'mlooking forward to that.
So so the other day you didn'thave a groundbreaking, you had a
stage breaking, which Vernon andI were talking about.
That that's just that that'sclever.
SPEAKER_00 (10:21):
We called it a groundbreaking, but we kept it a
surprise.
We we built out a a small littlefalse wall in front of the stage
and had our golden goldensledgehammers, and uh and we
everybody counted down from 10and at zero, uh confetti popped
and rained down from above as wesmashed the stage.
And of course, Starship, webuilt this city on rock and
roll, had to play in thebackground, and uh it was a
(10:42):
wonderful event.
It was really well attended.
Uh and and yeah, they I was overin the building this morning and
BHS is down there tearing apartthe bathrooms.
It it is underway.
What's the time frame?
About two years.
So um the really things aregonna things are gonna start to
really pick up next week.
Uh we'll start to see some uhsome pretty major signs of
(11:03):
progress.
The first of which will be thesign is coming off of the
building.
That's gonna come off, it soundslike maybe Tuesday or Wednesday
of next week.
Really?
So once that happens, it'll beprobably one of the first things
to come off and one of the lastto go back on.
And so points is gonna lookdifferent.
It will be, yep.
SPEAKER_01 (11:19):
Um completely such an iconic aspect to downtown.
SPEAKER_00 (11:23):
It uh every photo, every painting, you know, every
time we're on ESPN, you can't umyou can't not have points with
without the the sign.
SPEAKER_01 (11:31):
Yeah.
So two years, and and one of thethings, you know, you've got a
lot of people that are involved.
I know that there were you hadwhat eight, ten people there
with sledgehammers, but you hada room full of people that that
all have something at stake withthe Wear Em All Project.
Let's talk a little bit aboutthat, those collaborations.
SPEAKER_00 (11:49):
Yeah, I mean, first and foremost, our our board, uh,
you know, from day one.
You are a nonprofit.
We are a nonprofit organization,yes.
So our our board of directorsfrom day one has been, you know,
uh just tremendously involved.
This is a pretty hands-onproject, as you can imagine, and
and they've been there everystep of the way.
Uh the the lion's share of thefolks in that room that night
(12:10):
were were donors.
Uh we we have a very broad donorbase.
Uh and we are just now, probablyin the last 30 to 45 days,
getting into our publicfundraising phase.
Um, so the the the leadershiplevel donors that stepped up
early on to make this projecthappen, uh, we wouldn't be here
without you still have money toraise.
We do, we do.
Uh, and and included in our uhoverall capital campaign goal is
(12:33):
is funding for our endowment.
And so we're right at about the90% mark.
So we've got we've got 10% to gothat we are uh you're gonna
start hearing and seeing a lotfrom us out in the community as
it relates to ways that peoplecan get involved at any level.
Any public money?
Uh the only public money wereceived would be in in uh,
well, let me take that back.
Two two forms.
(12:53):
One, uh former leftover ARPAmoney, the American Rescue Plan
Act, uh, was with the state ofKansas.
We worked with the Department ofCommerce and uh uh at the time,
Senator Usha Reddy andRepresentative Carlin, Sidney
Carlin, to uh to work on uhbasically an appropriation from
the state uh Department ofCommerce.
That money really was fourthings that were most impacted
(13:16):
by COVID.
Venues were for were one ofthem.
So we did receive a milliondollars from the state of
Kansas.
Uh ultimately that wastechnically federal dollars.
Uh and then the the otherdollars we've received are
related to the publicinfrastructure improvements
we're gonna end up making toPoints Avenue.
So that was to the tune of about$350,000.
That was a cash uh will be.
We we've not received that fromthe city.
(13:38):
Um basically our restrooms areunderneath the sidewalk today.
And the city, the city requestedthat we give that space back.
And so, in order to do that, wehave to open that whole sidewalk
up, build a new structural wall,infill all that, and put all
that landscaping, brick, allthat stuff back.
And so there's some cost sharinghappening.
SPEAKER_01 (13:57):
Unfortunately, we're hamstringed by time here too.
No worries.
What are a couple, two or threeof the things you're most
looking forward to to WarehamHall being open in 2027?
SPEAKER_00 (14:09):
Yeah.
We're uh, you know, I think umthis the space for 145 years has
been a place for bringing thecommunity together.
Whether it's a brand newbuilding or the version of the
building we've we've known forthe last couple of years doing
movie nights, when when thatroom is full of people, there's
something uh there's somethingmagic about it.
Yeah.
Uh, you know, it you it's hardto it's hard to get mad at your
(14:32):
neighbor over their beliefs whenwhen you're all coming together
to watch the same movie, tolisten to the same concert, to
share the same laughs, right?
Um so that at the end of theday, regardless of the flash, I
think, I think creating a spacethat's in the heart of our
downtown that is designed tokeep bringing the community
together, I think that's whatI'll be most excited for.
SPEAKER_01 (14:49):
And the arts community is growing and you
know, you had a part inInsightMHK that helped start the
mural uh effort here.
And uh, we certainly appreciateall the things that you're doing
on behalf of our community andreally looking forward to the
progress that you're gonna makeand regular updates on Whrim
Hall.
SPEAKER_00 (15:08):
Absolutely.
We will uh follow us online,Facebook or Instagram.
We will be putting updates up uhjust about every day.
SPEAKER_01 (15:14):
He's Blade Magis, he's the executive director of
Wareham Hall.
Wearhamhall.org has a lot ofdetailed information where you
can find out more about thateffort.
We're gonna take a break, andwhen we come back, Tyler's gonna
be uh stopping in here and we'regonna talk about some things
that are happening in the nearfuture here on the GMCF
Community Hour on News Radio,KMAN.
Philanthropy Today is brought to you by the Greater
Manhattan Community Foundation.
In this episode, we feature arecently broadcast segment of
the GMTF Community Hour, asheard on News Radio KMAN.
We are back with the GMTFCommunity Hour here on News
Radio KMAN.
Hey, thanks for joining us herethis morning.
(00:20):
Blade Mages.
Man, I've known you for a longtime, dude.
It has been number 19 when Ifirst met you.
SPEAKER_00 (00:27):
I think that's right.
That was uh at the uh the Vistain Is that what it was?
Yeah, Vista meetings, talkingabout weddings and video stuff.
SPEAKER_01 (00:35):
And you're just a simple videographer back in
those days.
I was just uh looking with acamera.
SPEAKER_00 (00:40):
Uh not much has changed.
SPEAKER_01 (00:42):
Oh, no, you're still a kid with a camera.
That's probably the fun part.
But but you know, the impactthat you have made here, you got
such great vision and passionfor this community, and we
commend you for that.
Thank you uh greatly for doingthat.
And and now you've got um gosh,this is kind of like a hallmark
project for you, isn't it?
SPEAKER_00 (01:01):
This is uh quite the privilege to get uh to get to
say that I work on a uh an iconin this community, uh,
especially as uh you know,somewhat sort of my first quote
unquote development project.
Uh it's a it's a doozy.
Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (01:16):
Wareham Hall.
You know, it's known as theWareham Opera House.
And and and why Wareham Hall?
SPEAKER_00 (01:21):
Well, it's been known as a lot of things.
Uh it actually goes way backbefore just the Opera House.
So when it was first built,believe it or not, it was called
the Coliseum.
Uh, and then it was Moore'sOpera House, and then it was
Wareham's Opera House, and thenit was the electric, and then it
was the Wareham Theater.
And then back in the 80s, theysaid, well, let's go back to
calling it Wareham Opera House.
Uh why Wareham Hall?
(01:43):
Uh a couple of reasons.
First, we wanted to, we wantedto make our mark on um, you
know, the the symbolism of thechange.
Uh, but two, um, you know, thethe concept of an opera house
sometimes might be a little bitum it might preclude certain
people from thinking it mighthave something of interest for
them, right?
And so uh the idea of being ahall, a place that's uh, you
(02:04):
know, multifaceted in terms ofthe the types of performances it
can uh host, the types of eventsthat could take place there.
Uh really I like the idea that ahall is is is a space for the
community.
Uh and that's really what whatwe're trying to create.
SPEAKER_01 (02:18):
What was it about this that intrigued you and gave
you this spark to I mean, you'vebeen working on this for what, a
couple of years, three years?
This will be the we're we're inthe fifth year, but we're gonna
when you and I first startedtalking about this when
everybody first started talkingabout it, it's just like this
seems so grandiose, you know,and everybody's thinking, oh,
(02:38):
new paint job, you know, maybesome new carpet.
That was what we were thinkingin the beginning, too.
Yeah.
So the And then you got inspiredby some discoveries you made in
your search through thebuilding.
SPEAKER_00 (02:48):
We we did.
So it it really, I mean, youknow, my connection to this
building goes back all the wayto 2008 or nine.
Uh one of my first clients herein Manhattan was uh the previous
owner of the building.
And uh his nephew and I uhbecame quite close and we both
love movies and we both lovemusic, and uh, and it was that
passion, uh, but we were a bunchof you know bachelors that
(03:10):
didn't know anything, but we hada lot of energy and a lot of
passion, and we said, Oh, thisneeds to be something.
And and uh it never did becauseuh we didn't know how to pull
that off.
But um, so that was kind of partone.
Uh part two was that ever sinceI was, you know, three feet
tall, uh, I have had thisconnection to live music and
performance that uh it's justinexplicable for me.
(03:31):
Um and then the third was uh,you know, through my work with
the agency uh that I'd started,I've been very privileged to
make a lot of wonderfulconnections, to meet a lot of
the philanthropists that makeManhattan the city we know it to
be.
And so I kind of felt like I hadthe right three ingredients to
maybe give this a shot.
So in 2021, we got prettyserious about seeing if the
(03:53):
owner would sell, about seeingif the donors would support it,
and about, you know, seeing whatthis thing could become.
But yeah, in the beginning, wethought, oh, you know, six,
seven million bucks for all newHVAC plumbing, paint job, we'll
clean this thing up.
And here we are breaking groundon an over$40 million project.
That's huge.
SPEAKER_01 (04:12):
It's very huge, very, very huge.
Is that just like I mean, whenyou when you when you now talk
about$40 billion, is that justlike uh give you the heat to be
able to do that?
SPEAKER_00 (04:22):
It's it's not even real.
Yeah.
It's not even real.
It's it's uh, you know, it's uhwhen you consider, you know, a
lot of a lot of folks kind ofquestion the budget overall.
Hey, well, how'd we how'd it getso expensive?
A big part of it was theaddition of the the space to the
west.
We doubled our square footage.
Um so when when we look at theoverall actual square foot,
we're almost a 40,000 squarefoot building.
(04:44):
And so it's about it's about athousand bucks a square foot,
which 10 years ago would soundinsane, but post-COVID, uh, you
know, construction prices areabsolutely crazy.
And and so really, if you lookat the value we're getting out
of this place, it's it's really,I mean, in the grand scheme of
things, it's a pretty good deal.
I heard a story of a of a of abank, a retail bank that got
(05:06):
built not too long ago, and itwas$750 a square foot.
So when you consider that we'rebuilding for$1,000 a square foot
a state of the art, you'reyou're not gonna know what to do
with how advanced some of thistechnology is.
It's so, so cool.
The fact that we're getting thatfor, you know, a modest 25% more
than what this bank was builtfor.
I think that I think that says alot about the design team, a lot
(05:27):
about BHS and their ability tohelp us, you know, maximize our
donors' dollars, maximize ourhistoric tax credits to make
this project possible.
SPEAKER_01 (05:35):
You know, we talk about this, and you know,
leading into this, I was just inVegas, as you know, and I went
to go see Wizard of Oz at thesphere, which that's a whole
nother conversation.
It's amazing if you get thechance to go, which you are, I
understand.
I am you're gonna absolutely beblown away.
What we have here at the Museumof Art and Light, they have
something similar in Vegascalled the Art Museum, very
technically advanced and justabsolutely mind-blowing.
(05:59):
So, what will the Worm Hall,upon its completion, be able to
provide?
SPEAKER_00 (06:05):
Yeah, the the main so we will be a fully
professional stage, first andforemost.
So um when you think of when youthink of a Broadway theater,
when you think of a stage withrigging, much much like McCain
with rigging and curtains andlights, you know, we will have
all of that stuff.
One one key difference that thatkind of puts us in our own uh
category is that our riggingsystem, uh, that'll be uh fully
(06:28):
motorized.
And so if you need to fly inpieces of scenery or curtains or
drapes or lighting effects, uhthat stuff can all be
programmed.
That can all be done in a waythat's actually a lot safer than
traditional rigging systems, butit's also in a way that's
really, really advanced.
So from a learning standpoint,we're gonna be able to put, you
know, students uh, you know, incharge of of pieces of equipment
(06:51):
that that you know exist out inin much bigger, more advanced
theaters.
So that's kind of the therigging side is is probably
first.
But you have to do that in orderto keep up with the performers
and the production.
You know, there are there aresome productions where their
entire show and the rigging thatgoes with it, it's actually just
uh synced to a time code.
And so they can you can hitstart, and then that whole
(07:12):
system is just programmed, itknows when to move up and move
down and close curtains and opencurtains.
Um it's it's pretty prettyimpressive.
Um the second part, the one thatI'm probably more more uh uh
giddy, I get a little I get alittle giddy when I think about
this.
So when we uh when we thinkabout what we're trying to do
with this space, and and youknow sound, you're a you're a
(07:34):
you're a sound guy.
So um much like the room thatwe're in right now, if you're
gonna have amplifiedperformance, you need a space
that's somewhat dead, right?
So if you you not a lot of echo,not a lot of uh reverberation.
Because when you charge thatroom up with energy through
sound waves, it just bounces allover the place.
And so you need to absorb thatso that you can actually hear
(07:56):
with clarity what's coming fromthe speakers.
However, if you want to host anacoustic performance, no
amplification, something like asymphony, uh, you know, a
soloist, piano, concerto,whatever that might be, uh,
those types of performances, youknow, those originated at a time
when amplification didn't exist.
And so did the theater, right?
The theater was built, theversion of it we know today
(08:18):
really has bones of 1910.
They didn't have amplificationthen that was used in that
context.
So it it's very reverberanttoday.
So what we're gonna be doingwhen finished is blending these
two spaces.
And and what you'll be able todo is as a performer, you will
be able to effectively dial inthe reverb of the room, which
(08:40):
has awesome, awesome uh uhimplications for for education.
For if you want to know what itfeels like to perform at
Carnegie Hall, we'll be able todial that setting in, you know,
in that building.
And and that performer won'tneed a microphone.
You won't see a microphone thatwon't exist, but all of a
sudden, that entire room willhave this fullness and richness.
And then you can flip a switchand be ready for uh a rock band
(09:03):
that night or uh uh a rave, youknow, with with subwoofers
shaking everybody's guts.
I mean, it's it's uh it'll bevery, very versatile.
Um the other thing on that soundpiece is that, you know, I think
you and I probably both grew upwith analog mixing and and and
left right and maybe a centerchannel, right?
Right.
(09:25):
The system in the future willwill utilize a technology called
object-oriented mixing.
And so you will be able to placejust with your ears, not your
eyes, where on stage sounds arecoming from, not just left to
right, but depth.
You'll be able to hear that thatpiano is behind that guitar,
that tuba is behind that stringsound.
(09:46):
Almost a three stereoscopicexperience that you get to share
with everybody in that room.
It's phenomenal.
SPEAKER_01 (09:54):
You know, they dabbled with hot doorphonic
albums back in the 70s.
SPEAKER_00 (10:00):
I don't even know what that means.
Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (10:02):
That was a whole different uh yeah, it was
short-lived.
But uh, I mean, uh so muchtechnology.
Yeah.
That uh and and and as a guywho's a little bit of a tech
geek, you know, I just yeah, I'mlooking forward to that.
So so the other day you didn'thave a groundbreaking, you had a
stage breaking, which Vernon andI were talking about.
That that's just that that'sclever.
SPEAKER_00 (10:21):
We called it a groundbreaking, but we kept it a
surprise.
We we built out a a small littlefalse wall in front of the stage
and had our golden goldensledgehammers, and uh and we
everybody counted down from 10and at zero, uh confetti popped
and rained down from above as wesmashed the stage.
And of course, Starship, webuilt this city on rock and
roll, had to play in thebackground, and uh it was a
(10:42):
wonderful event.
It was really well attended.
Uh and and yeah, they I was overin the building this morning and
BHS is down there tearing apartthe bathrooms.
It it is underway.
What's the time frame?
About two years.
So um the really things aregonna things are gonna start to
really pick up next week.
Uh we'll start to see some uhsome pretty major signs of
(11:03):
progress.
The first of which will be thesign is coming off of the
building.
That's gonna come off, it soundslike maybe Tuesday or Wednesday
of next week.
Really?
So once that happens, it'll beprobably one of the first things
to come off and one of the lastto go back on.
And so points is gonna lookdifferent.
It will be, yep.
SPEAKER_01 (11:19):
Um completely such an iconic aspect to downtown.
SPEAKER_00 (11:23):
It uh every photo, every painting, you know, every
time we're on ESPN, you can't umyou can't not have points with
without the the sign.
SPEAKER_01 (11:31):
Yeah.
So two years, and and one of thethings, you know, you've got a
lot of people that are involved.
I know that there were you hadwhat eight, ten people there
with sledgehammers, but you hada room full of people that that
all have something at stake withthe Wear Em All Project.
Let's talk a little bit aboutthat, those collaborations.
SPEAKER_00 (11:49):
Yeah, I mean, first and foremost, our our board, uh,
you know, from day one.
You are a nonprofit.
We are a nonprofit organization,yes.
So our our board of directorsfrom day one has been, you know,
uh just tremendously involved.
This is a pretty hands-onproject, as you can imagine, and
and they've been there everystep of the way.
Uh the the lion's share of thefolks in that room that night
(12:10):
were were donors.
Uh we we have a very broad donorbase.
Uh and we are just now, probablyin the last 30 to 45 days,
getting into our publicfundraising phase.
Um, so the the the leadershiplevel donors that stepped up
early on to make this projecthappen, uh, we wouldn't be here
without you still have money toraise.
We do, we do.
Uh, and and included in our uhoverall capital campaign goal is
(12:33):
is funding for our endowment.
And so we're right at about the90% mark.
So we've got we've got 10% to gothat we are uh you're gonna
start hearing and seeing a lotfrom us out in the community as
it relates to ways that peoplecan get involved at any level.
Any public money?
Uh the only public money wereceived would be in in uh,
well, let me take that back.
Two two forms.
(12:53):
One, uh former leftover ARPAmoney, the American Rescue Plan
Act, uh, was with the state ofKansas.
We worked with the Department ofCommerce and uh uh at the time,
Senator Usha Reddy andRepresentative Carlin, Sidney
Carlin, to uh to work on uhbasically an appropriation from
the state uh Department ofCommerce.
That money really was fourthings that were most impacted
(13:16):
by COVID.
Venues were for were one ofthem.
So we did receive a milliondollars from the state of
Kansas.
Uh ultimately that wastechnically federal dollars.
Uh and then the the otherdollars we've received are
related to the publicinfrastructure improvements
we're gonna end up making toPoints Avenue.
So that was to the tune of about$350,000.
That was a cash uh will be.
We we've not received that fromthe city.
(13:38):
Um basically our restrooms areunderneath the sidewalk today.
And the city, the city requestedthat we give that space back.
And so, in order to do that, wehave to open that whole sidewalk
up, build a new structural wall,infill all that, and put all
that landscaping, brick, allthat stuff back.
And so there's some cost sharinghappening.
SPEAKER_01 (13:57):
Unfortunately, we're hamstringed by time here too.
No worries.
What are a couple, two or threeof the things you're most
looking forward to to WarehamHall being open in 2027?
SPEAKER_00 (14:09):
Yeah.
We're uh, you know, I think umthis the space for 145 years has
been a place for bringing thecommunity together.
Whether it's a brand newbuilding or the version of the
building we've we've known forthe last couple of years doing
movie nights, when when thatroom is full of people, there's
something uh there's somethingmagic about it.
Yeah.
Uh, you know, it you it's hardto it's hard to get mad at your
(14:32):
neighbor over their beliefs whenwhen you're all coming together
to watch the same movie, tolisten to the same concert, to
share the same laughs, right?
Um so that at the end of theday, regardless of the flash, I
think, I think creating a spacethat's in the heart of our
downtown that is designed tokeep bringing the community
together, I think that's whatI'll be most excited for.
SPEAKER_01 (14:49):
And the arts community is growing and you
know, you had a part inInsightMHK that helped start the
mural uh effort here.
And uh, we certainly appreciateall the things that you're doing
on behalf of our community andreally looking forward to the
progress that you're gonna makeand regular updates on Whrim
Hall.
SPEAKER_00 (15:08):
Absolutely.
We will uh follow us online,Facebook or Instagram.
We will be putting updates up uhjust about every day.
SPEAKER_01 (15:14):
He's Blade Magis, he's the executive director of
Wareham Hall.
Wearhamhall.org has a lot ofdetailed information where you
can find out more about thateffort.
We're gonna take a break, andwhen we come back, Tyler's gonna
be uh stopping in here and we'regonna talk about some things
that are happening in the nearfuture here on the GMCF
Community Hour on News Radio,KMAN.
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