The Rodgers Theatre roof has been replaced and its signature tower reconstructed. Now, a full restoration has begun on the marquee.
Rodgers Theatre director Wally Duncan said the board has been working toward this for a long time.
“Ever since I’ve been on the board, which has been since 2016, that’s been the focus, to try to get the front of the Rogers Theatre restored,” he explained.
Bootheel Signs of Poplar Bluff is handling the restoration. Their goal is to repair and update the marquee while still retaining its midcentury aesthetic.
“We’re trying to get everything as close and as accurate to the original as possible,” said Carl Grobe, owner of Bootheel Signs.
The work is extensive. There are approximately 980 lights, sockets and chasers on the awning, which have not been updated since they were installed in the 40s or 50s. Grobe described the effort of rewiring and transitioning to LEDs as starting from scratch.
“Every light socket has been out in the weather and the corrosion, and as such the wiring behind it is aged and brittle, and then the chaser mechanisms aren’t working properly,” he said.
Further complicating matters, the last U.S. manufacturer of the original lights and chasers ceased production a couple years ago.
“Nobody in the United States is actually making that exact one (part) anymore. We’ve got everything ordered, but it’s like everything else right now — it’s on a slow boat from China,” explained Grobe.
The LED lights will retain the look of the original marquee, but with a lifespan of 30,000-50,000 hours instead of only 1,000. Bootheel Signs is also replacing some neon lights on the structure.
The very noticeable damage to the corner of the marquee is the result of trucks or farm equipment turning too tightly on the corner of East Pine and Broadway. The city extended the curb of the sidewalk to prevent that from happening again. The dented, scraped area will be re-paneled and the whole thing repainted to its original glory, or as close as Grobe can get. Most of the paneling is bright red, but the Rodgers board is still looking for color photos of the smaller decorative elements, which have faded beyond recognition.
“We’re still trying to find anybody that has a good color picture from the 60s or 70s, because we’re doing a lot of guesswork,” he said. “The Rodgers Theatre group is trying to find any and everything they can, but we are going to try to paint everything as close to the accurate colors (as possible)... we’re dealing with colors that have faded back from the original.”
Duncan anticipates the final cost of restoration will fall between $30,000-40,000. He and the Rodgers board are grateful for the community’s generous support, individual donations and fundraiser contributions.
“We certainly couldn’t do this without community support and we feel like restoring the Rodgers is going to be a big improvement to downtown. We look forward to being a part of the downtown revitalization,” Duncan said.
Both he and Grobe are eager to see the end result.
“It’s gonna be a good, bright, exciting look when it’s turned on there,” said Grobe.