Commentary

Culver Theater Thoughts

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I’ve been to four meetings in the past few weeks where the Culver Theater was discussed. This is about the Culver Theater on Lake Shore Drive, not the former ones on Main Street. It has been through many reiterations and multiple names, but its days as a movie theater ended more than a decade ago under the weight of increasingly expensive film rental fees in an aging venue. Before it closed, it had weathered the onslaught of VHS rentals (remember Bick’s Flicks at 820 Academy Road?), but lost the battle to streaming services such as Netflix.

Tom Ruane, a Culver Academies grad, bought the property with a sense of nostalgia and a passion to bring it back to life. I met with Tom several times regarding his passion project. During one of those meetings I climbed through the rafters with him and at another, I and the contractor he had working there stood on the marquee, verifying that it was structurally sound. (The then Building Commissioner/Inspector didn’t agree due to some loose soffit.)

CMA Cadets lining up at the El Rancho Matinee

Tom had made a false start at a Not-For-Profit (NFP) to pull the project together that initially failed. His second pass at a Theater NFP did better and was moving the project forward when Tom tragically passed away in January of 2020. Tom’s vision for the future of the theater was a bit scattered, but it was based in his memories of visiting the theater as a Culver Cadet. The Saturday matinees were very popular as one of the few places a cadet could take a date and sit in the dark, relatively unsupervised! The theater was generally full, regardless of what was playing. Several other Culver Academies grads had also expressed an interest in Tom’s vision, so there was some financial backing. Tom invited me to be on the NFP board, but I chose to pass on that opportunity. Kudos to those who stepped up.

Tom’s untimely passing set the group back as the property was tied up in probate for a period of time. It’s finally been released to the NFP’s control. With that piece in place, the Culver Redevelopment Commission has chosen to support them in an READI grant application. This is for the Arts & Culture portion of READI. Marshall County Community Foundation (MCCF) will also be supporting this effort. Since it is Lilly Foundation money, the MCCF endorsement will carry weight.

The NFP is concentrating on the theater. They have had it reviewed by Indiana Landmarks, who deemed it old, but not historic. While having mixed feelings about that, it has released them to dream bigger and look at building new in lieu of trying to renovate. Their current plan is to create a multi-media venue similar to what the Rees Theatre in Plymouth has become. To accomplish this, they are requesting +/- 20′ in additional property to be donated to the theater from the adjacent Town of Culver parcel to the west. This would give them a building width of 50′. It wasn’t stated, but I assume they are going to extend the building to the north as well. There is some depth to gain towards the alley. They are not planning to extend above the 35′ height restriction, though if they follow through with a rooftop patio, they would need to accommodate an elevator/stair shaft extending above the roof line.

The Osborn Hotel at the NW corner of Ohio & Jefferson Streets

The Town of Culver has bigger plans and their READI application included money for the theater, but also included money for planning renovations all along the portion of Lake Shore Drive (LSD) adjacent to the Town Park and including in the Park. This falls under the most recent Comprehensive Plan recommendations to create an entertainment district in this area. One thing I thought interesting about this was their concern of not increasing the heights along this stretch of Lake Shore Drive. They will be limiting development and, to be somewhat mercenary, assessed value… This strikes me as odd since we have current buildings such as the First Farmers Bank & Trust building and The Cove exceeding that height restriction, they are planning a new Institutional zoning district for the Culver Academies that explicitly waives that height restriction because of the number of buildings they build higher, and even historical buildings from the past such as the Osborn Hotel were above that level.

I appreciate the Culver theater NFP’s enthusiasm, but I do have some concerns. The Rees Theater in Plymouth is a beautiful and popular venue, bringing entertainment and visitors to Plymouth on a regular basis. That said, it continues to struggle financially. There is no doubt that it is a resource for the City of Plymouth, but it’s sustainability is a concern. They had hoped to achieve an endowment capable of bridging this gap, but so far, that effort has stalled. While it is currently a fairly new facility, there will be maintenance & renovation requirements in the future, that they will be unable to save for if they are not viable on a self-supporting basis. That means they will be going back to the well to find donors to save it again. Culver’s Theater will be a smaller venue in a smaller community. Sustainability will be a challenge in the smaller market. The question in my mind isn’t whether this is a laudable thing to do that Culver will benefit from, but more to the point of whether they can fund an endowment on top of the construction costs that keeps the dream alive.

The funding won’t be the only challenge. Culver does an above average job of communication on new programs and changes. That can be a double-edged sword, as it allows the NIMBYs to organize and be vocal. If I had to guess, I would say that bringing the theater back is a typical 80/20 issue in Culver with 80% support. Despite that there are already naysayers from the adjacent condos to the north concerned about losing their view, others bemoaning the already strained parking situation on summer weekend evenings and still others begrudging the Town giving up any of the adjacent lot for the venture to another NFP. You would hope the majority would prevail, but the other voices will be heard. Even among the supporters, there is some misconception regarding the Town’s lot to the west, assuming that it could be used for theater parking. To date, the Town has always kept this lot reserved for the fire department, so there’s no reason to expect that to change… or to change without the fire department pitching a fit…

A few thoughts on the parking:

  1. Lake Shore Drive (LSD) is kind of a mess. The Right-of-Way (ROW) meanders and has an inconsistent width. While the GIS is likely off in some areas, it would appear there are encroachments. At a recent Redevelopment Commission meeting, infrastructure issues were alluded to. If major changes are in the works for LSD, parking could be examined at the same time. The width would allow some narrowing, possibly changing some of the parallel parking to angle parking or with the width, maybe some of the angle parking could become 90 degree parking. In either case, additional spaces may be achievable. Any narrowing of the traffic lanes would increase pedestrian safety as well. (One of the previous plans suggested consideration of a small round-a-bout at the bend in LSD at the entrance to the park to enhance safety and traffic control.)
  2. While the Town is encouraging biking through the addition of the trails, very little is being done with biking infrastructure in the LSD or Main Street shopping areas. A few bike racks could encourage bike use, freeing up spaces.
  3. The Town sells 800+ golf cart permits each year. The funds from those permits could be used to create some golf cart spaces throughout the LSD area. There are creative ways to do this. One suggestion would be to turn some of the parallel parking into angle golf cart parking. This would be a two or three to one gain in parking spaces Just turning the end of aisle space in an angle parking or 90 degree parking space into two stacked golf cart spaces would be positive.
  4. I know this would be a tough sell with the fire department, but the existing lot configuration is inefficient. The lot could be reconfigured to have more spaces and still have designated fire fighter parking for emergencies. They could be allowed to block it off for events and truck maintenance while allowing the theater, restaurants and Park to gain spaces that currently sit vacant +90% of the time.

So, if you follow me here, you know I like to think outside the box. Here’s a more radical idea if the theater fails to gain traction on Lake Shore Drive. The Town wants the theater torn down, so the existing structure will be gone, one way or another. What if the theater group is unsuccessful there? Would they consider continuing the mission to provide an entertainment venue? Would they consider the preservation of another historic building? In the current Culver real estate market, the lot the theater sits on would sell for a stupid amount of money. The condo owners to the north would bid it up, just to keep it empty. Another developer would no doubt look at a multi story building with condos and maybe a bit of first floor retail. That could be seed money to do something else. What could that something else be?

Take a look at the Wesley United Methodist Church on School Street. As with many modern Methodist Churches, the congregation suffered a schism over a divergence is their beliefs. As with many of the Churches in Culver, Wesley United Methodist Church was already struggling with membership attrition, which was only exacerbated by the split. Is this a chance to save this Church before it lands on Indiana Landmarks Sacred Places list? Constructed in the 50’s (by Easterday Construction!), it is an iconic Culver fixture that should be preserved.

The building is in relatively good condition. Aside from the Sanctuary, which could continue its life as a public gathering space, it also includes a secondary entertainment area in the basement where there has been a stage as well. It has a large, working kitchen, an elevator to access both floors, and many ancillary classrooms and offices that could be repurposed. It sits on wide streets with ample parking and for larger events, it sits a block away from the school parking lots to the north and south. If the venue is successful, College Avenue is wide enough to convert some of the parking to angle parking for additional spaces and the Church owns a vacant lot to the north that could be converted to parking as well.

This takes it away from being in the “Entertainment District”, but in some ways, that’s not a bad thing. The location is easily accessible and does not carry the same parking issues that LSD has. The Church building would be preserved, The Church congregation would no longer have the crushing maintenance issues above and beyond those necessary for the congregation size and thus, would have funds available for growth and pursuit of their mission.

I realize this idea will be scoffed at and likely ridiculed, not in the least by the current Wesley United Methodist Church members, but it is mainly an exercise in looking at options and not being too tightly tied to just one solution. Being fixated on an original idea, can sometimes become debilitating, when there may be more than one solution.

I hope the theater is successful in some form and figures out the sustainability issue. The revival of the theater has been high on the list of surveys done for recent comprehensive plans, and the Stellar efforts. It is good that it is getting some attention, whether it comes to fruition or not.

Earth Day 2026

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It was heartwarming to see the elementary kids out helping plant trees at the High School this morning. Kudos to Karen Shuman, School Superintendent, and Kevin Danti, Town Manager, for leading the effort with shovels in hand. Jud Dillon would be proud!

Image from Edge Family Farm Website

The property has a history with my family, as it was formerly part of my Great Grandpa Russell Easterday’s farm. When I was 7 or 8, I remember riding my bike to the end of Slate Street to give treats of carrots to the members of Grandpa Easterday’s herd of white-faced Hereford cattle that were brave enough to come see me at the fence. At one time, the Easterday farm extended all of the way down to Easterday Construction. Before the office building was built in the 50’s, there were cattle barns and the red barn on the property was known as the pony barn where grandpa kept horses. Russell and Wanda Easterday lived in the brick house on the west side of the north end of Ohio Street.

Arthur Judson “Jud” Dillon and Grandpa Easterday were friends. Like my grandfather, Jud was a farmer that moved on from farming to better support is family. In both cases they became teachers. Grandpa moved on to construction while Jud moved from teacher to guidance counselor to High School Principal. Jud’s farm surrounded the intersection of 10 & 17 at the entrance to Culver from the north. If you look up old deeds in that area, you’ll see that the town lots in that area are part of the Dillon Addition.

When the high school was built, there were few, if any, trees in the pasture. All of the older trees you see around the high school were planted by Jud. Since the high school was built in 1969, and the first Earth Day was in 1970, it’s hard to say if those trees were tied to Earth Day or not. As Jud’s son, Gary, relates it (Stories and Stones ’25, 17 min mark), Jud had an affinity for trees and was responsible for planting them all around Culver while Gary was responsible for watering them.

It’s nice to see the legacy continue. The school property definitely needs a few more trees!

Happy Earth Day!

Connecting Dots…

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110 North Main Street

A couple of weeks ago I posted about going to the initial Collaborate Culver meeting, where there was a discussion about missing businesses. I suggested the possibility of some incubator space for potential new businesses to try out Culver rather than going all in on a new store front. Geno Nannini made a stab at this years ago, by renovating the Masonic Lodge (Henry H. Culver Lodge No. 617 F. & A. M.) building at 110 North Main Street, subdividing the second floor lodge space into apartments and subdividing the first floor into individual offices/shops. A mix of small businesses, Churches and Not-for-Profits have occupied the spaces over time.

Last year I spoke to the owner of the former trailer park site at 515 West Jefferson Street in Culver about his idea of putting up small, temporary shop facilities. He indicated that he had spoke to town officials about making that happen, but he didn’t get much traction with them. I think at this time he’s in talks about a hotel on that site.

Bringing this full circle, Bremen has been talking about a project called Bremen Village Shops, which sounds very similar to what was suggested for the trailer park property. That project should be coming to fruition this summer. It is being done in conjunction with the Town of Bremen. They are working through logistics, since the property is currently owned by the Bremen Redevelopment Commission and there are legal issues with having them serve as a landlord.

If the Bremen Village Shops are successful, maybe the Town of Culver will warm to the idea and consider something similar for Culver, whether at 515 West Jefferson, or on another site. It’s an interesting concept and it seems like an creative way to get some new businesses to give Culver a chance. Meanwhile, if anyone is interested, I don’t think 100 North Main Street is completely full…

Who should organize Culver?

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There was an interesting discussion at the Culver Redevelopment Commission (CRC) last Thursday about potentially hiring someone to coordinate the various volunteer efforts in town. At one point the Town Manager referenced my post: Culver needs an Infrastructure Czar, saying that he felt this was a similar situation where Culver has lots of volunteers, often with the same people on different committees, but there was no coordinated effort. Years ago, this was the reason the Culver Second Century Committee was created… to coordinate all of the volunteer efforts. This sounds similar, but with paid staff. Can’t believe I haven’t written the story of the Second Century Committee, so I’ll put that on my list of things to do here. (Done!) It was basically started as an off-shoot of the Culver Chamber of Commerce in order to coordinate the volunteer effort of the various Culver Not-For-Profits. It flourished and morphed, but eventually became defunct over time.

One board member spoke about the success of the Culver Stellar Committee and then Marshall County Stellar Committee (Marshall County Crossroads), but then expressed disappointment that the offshoots, the Culver Crossroads Committee and the One Marshall County Committee haven’t moved projects forward post Stellar. Her take-away was the need for paid staff to direct the volunteers and keep people on task. This is the route One Marshall County is pursuing, while Culver Crossroads basically hasn’t met since completing the new (2024) Culver Comprehensive Plan.

I think the discussion was good, but I think there was a point missed about why the Stellar committees succeeded and the follow-up committees are failing. In my opinion, despite labeling themselves as committees, both the town and county Stellar groups were actually task forces. A Task Force by definition is a temporary group created to deal with a specific issue, usually made up of people chosen for their knowledge or experience in the subject. This is a key difference, since with a task force, there are defined goals and a deadline or deadlines to meet those goals. With a deadline, there comes a sense of urgency. This is what the Culver and Marshall County Stellar groups were.

I liked a lot of the points made at the CRC, such as reducing the number of meetings and organizing the various groups to keep them focused on common tasks. (When I was on the chamber board, we talked about “The 10 people that do everything…”. They were generally involved in all the various organizations, often in leadership positions, until their time was stretched, their efforts were diluted and they eventually burnt out and disappeared.) But… A town employee doing this is expansion of bureaucracy and most of us know that this could easily become the camel’s nose under the tent. My experience is that bureaucracies tend to be more about self-preservation than accomplishing things. I look at the City of Plymouth that had an engineering consultant a couple of decades ago, which became a full-time engineer, which became a full-time engineer with an assistant engineer, which became a full-time engineer and assistant engineer, farming work out to an engineering consultant. All with little change to the City of Plymouth population. Metrics of what success looks like as well as deadlines for that success are critical in my opinion. Mission creep isn’t automatically bad, but needs to be controlled and subject to oversight and approval.

From a serial volunteer’s perspective, I know committees tend to talk things to death and committee members that volunteer to do something are easily side-tracked by work, family and general life obligations. If Stellar committee (task force) items weren’t completed, well and on time, the Stellar reward was off the table. There was a sense of urgency that a standing committee rarely, if ever, feels. It takes a special employee to maintain that urgency on a consistent basis.

It will be interesting to watch how this plays out. If the town does pursue this, I hope they find that special employee.

Collaborate Culver

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I attended the first Collaborate Culver meeting on March 5th. The group is mostly downtown merchants, so I’m not sure why I was asked to attend. I’m always interested in what’s going on in Culver, so I decided to spend a couple of hours and see what I would learn.

The group was mostly comprised of downtown merchants. The stated goal was to bring together business interests and prepare a list of wants and needs for the community assessment being put together with funding from the Culver Redevelopment Commission. For those interested, the first Downtown Strategies community assessment meeting will be at the Culver Union Township Public Library on April 1st, Noon to 1:30.

For better or worse, I was the oldest business represented there as well as the person with the longest history of community involvement. As such, I tried to sit quietly (hard for me!) and not squelch any enthusiasm. The reason I say that, is many of the ideas brought up were not new… either having been discarded or having experienced trial and failure in the past.

It was great to see a large number of new faces there. In fact, other than myself, none of the more established businesses were represented. Some of them may be jaded, like myself, and have a “been there, done that” attitude towards starting a new group. I get that, but if that’s the case, I hope they at least stay out of the way, if they choose not to directly support the new group. We always talk about wanting “new blood”, but we need to support the new people and not be wet blankets.

One of the more important discussions was regarding Zoning. There was no consensus from the group, but the discussion points were salient. Some wanted to see more downtown buildings converted to housing. Others were adamantly against that. There seemed to be consensus that a mix was good and encouraging second floor housing was positive. There was also a discussion of the limited commercial lots available. I mentioned that the Plan Commission had rezoned the Easterday Dentist office back to residential after the dentistry shut down. There seemed to be consensus that the change was not positive. I couldn’t speak to the status of that going forward, since the Plan Commission had discussed rezoning the other houses used as businesses back to residential, but the Comprehensive Plan advocated the other direction, suggesting allowing expansion of the commercial areas. (A better compromising solution would be Hierarchal Zoning rather than Euclidian Zoning as is used in Culver now.)

There was also discussion of more collaboration. I repeated my Main Street Mantra, suggesting that they need to work like a mall and coordinate hours of operations, sales events and other things that create a place people want to stay after visiting one location. I also reiterated my admiration for Wabash and their efforts to cross advertise the commercial areas via sidewalk ads. I asked how many of them had ads for other Culver businesses at their locations and suggested collaborating on that would create more of a Culver Destination, cultivating those that already came for their merchant of choice.

The only thing I felt was a negative was a list of missing businesses and a desire for the town government to somehow foster them. I am always surprised when this kind of thing comes up amongst a group of entrepreneurs. They should understand the difficulties in creating a start up business. If they were truly convinced that these missing ventures would be successful, why aren’t they investing and profiting from them on their own? I did suggest that if this was truly a need they saw, maybe the approach would be to recruit an existing business from a neighboring municipality to set up a trial satellite facility and test the waters. Setting up in some incubator space would be a much more economical venture than going all in on a new store or business. We already have several of these operating in town.

The thing I thought was missing in the conversation was The Dunes. No one truly knows how that project will affect the town. The percentage of full time residents will remain a mystery until leasing reveals it. That still doesn’t change the fact that there will be an additional influx of residents, if it is successful in any form. If it successfully brings in people from outside Culver, the local merchants need to become known. I pointed out that Culver doesn’t have a Welcome Wagon or an active Chamber… two of the main methods that outsiders learn about the community and it’s businesses. Getting something in front of them as them move in could make a critical first impression.

Chamber of Commerce in Culver

There was further discussion about the Culver Chamber of Commerce (CCC) and its rocky relationship with the town government. I suggested that I thought that could be reformed. I also suggested that reviving the CCC would be more effective than creating a similar entity, since Chambers are a known entity and often the first place visitors and new residents turn to learn about their community. This discussion was left with the group assigning several volunteers to look into this further.

All in all, it seemed like a good group and I wish them the best. I hope the group gels and is able to do some good things. I don’t know how much I’ll participate going forward as I don’t really have a retail presence nor much of a connection to it, but as always, I’m more than happy to kibitz and share my experience and knowledge.