Sterling commits $300,000 in COVID-19 relief funds to fixing downtown theater’s roof

STERLING – The city will allocate $300,000 of its nearly $2 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds to a new roof for Sterling Theater, and to help it recoup some of the revenue lost as a result of the pandemic.

The allocation comes at the recommendation of city‘s ARPA Committee, which also recommended the city allocate $50,000 to the new The Shoppes at Grandon Plaza retail business incubator, and $45,000 to the Twin City Farmers Market to build a new deck.

The City Council approved all three recommendations at its meeting Tuesday.

Reroofing got underway this week at the theater at 402 Locust St., which went vacant in 2007 and was renovated and reopened in August 2013.

In December 2012, the city voted to loan the Greater Sterling Development Corp. $550,000 to buy and remodel the vintage building, which includes four storefronts, in an effort to improve the blighted structure and attract people to the downtown.

The portion of the roof over the businesses was redone, but the section over the theater was not, and is leaking badly.

The two-screen Sterling Theater, with its distinctive lighted tower, is a brew-and-view that shows first-run movies; ticket sales and rent from the four businesses help maintain the structure.

It was built in 1924 for vaudeville and stage acts, was partially destroyed by fire on July 9, 1943, and was rebuilt in the Art Moderne style and reopened Sept. 28, 1944.

At the year-round Twin City Farmers Market, 106 Ave. A, one of the two decks does not comply with building codes and has become a trip hazard.

The new deck will comply with code, and with the Americans With Disabilities Act.

ARPA Committee members are Alderwoman Kaitlyn Ekquist, Mayor Skip Lee, City Manager Scott Shumard, Heather Sotelo, executive director of the Greater Sterling Development Corp., Janna Groharing, executive director of Sterling Main Street, which is building the incubator, and Kris Noble, executive director of the Sauk Valley Area Chamber of Commerce.

Some other items the city is considering spending ARPA funds on the Whiteside County Healthier Communities Partnership, mental health, housing, city sewer infrastructure, child care. mural restoration.

All ARPA spending must be approved by the City Council, which has until the end of 2024 to allocated the remaining nearly $1.6 million, and until the end of 2026 to spend it.