KNOXVILLE, Iowa — The Grand Theater in Knoxville has been around for over 100 years, but it’s had to fight to stay alive. In 1922, a fire burned it down, then it shut down in 2011 again. The community came together to revive it in 2015, but now there’s another challenge. The historic theater is trying to avoid a potential foreclosure in the coming weeks. 

It started in July 2024, when The Grand Theater was having work done on the roof. A big storm came in that caused flooding and water damage. So, they had a company come in to help clear that out and restore their theater. Now, a year later, that bill to that restoration company still has not been paid.

The Grand Theater says that’s on the roofing company. The tarps that they had overhead didn’t do their job to protect their building. They say the roofing company’s insurance is not paying that.

So, The Grand Theater is now taking legal action. The only problem is that the court date isn’t set until September 2026. So, in the meantime, The Grand Theater is trying to raise $125,000 in the next two weeks so they don’t face potential foreclosure.

“I don’t have as good a feeling this time as they did ten years ago,” President of The Grand Theater Foundation Curt Schwanebeck said. “This is a shock to the community, this kind of money this fast. And people are saying, what happens if we don’t raise it? Well, we’ll raise what we can, and then we’ll try to work a deal with these people. They’re human beings. They don’t want to own a building in Knoxville. They don’t want to be in the theater business. They just want their money.”

Meanwhile, the community is standing behind the theater. One woman came knocking on the door Wednesday afternoon with a $100 bill donation. Others are challenging their friends to match their donations. 

“It’s kind of a bummer, honestly, because this community worked so hard to get this theater back up and running. The community got behind it, went into a community trust. So, after we had the storm damage, getting it fixed was a big issue,” Joanne Cram, a Knoxville resident, said. “And now seeing what’s happening and the theater is just in limbo, and it’s not fair, a special place to come.”

This is a staple in Knoxville. Not only does the community care for the theater, but the theater cares for the community. Movie tickets are only $5. On Wednesday afternoon, they held a free matinee showing for kids and families. 

Schwanebeck, who is now the theater’s president, first visited The Grand Theater in 1960, when he was just eight years old. 

Memories are made there. 

“My kids are older now, but when they were little, I would bring them. You would always run into familiar faces. It was, yeah, it’s a special place to come,” Cram said.

Still, the theater and community know that the restoration company did good work last summer.

“We need to pay those people. It’s been almost a year that they did their work, and we thought insurance company would work a lot faster than it has,” Schwanebeck said.

“Knoxville is really good about coming together to help things out and people are calling in and saying, we’re going to match that. We’ll watch it. Whatever he donates, we’re donating,” he added.