The historic Fallon Theatre has been a Maine Street landmark for more than a century.
"It was designed by the famous architect Frederic DeLongchamps," said Stuart Richardson, board chair of Fallon Community Theatre, Inc. "He got his training in San Francisco after the San Francisco earthquake, so when he built a building, he wanted to build it to last. This building actually withstood the 1954 earthquake here in Fallon, where half the other buildings on Maine Street collapsed, and it's still standing."
It was the place to be in downtown Fallon for years.
"This was THE form of entertainment back in the 50s and 60s," Richardson said. "They say people would line up down the whole block, and that there was sometimes 500 people coming in to see movies on the weekends."
But with the advent of video stores, streaming services, and more modern movie theaters, the Fallon Theatre started to show its age. The building was close to foreclosure about a decade ago, when Richardson bought it.
"The owner came to me and said I need help, I'm not sure I can keep this going," he said. "I love movie theaters. I grew up in a town that had a small movie theater and I used to work in it. So I love this one and I was in a position to help him out and keep this one going for a couple years until the State Historical Preservation Office was able to come in and get us the grant money to do the repairs we needed to do."
And there's been plenty of community support, including a membership program.
"What the sustaining membership program does is it provides us a cash flow that allows us to pay the utilities the taxes the insurance," Richardson said. "The necessities of running a business and making those small repairs that aren't really covered by grants, the things you have to do to keep a building up."
The technology is all digital now, but the old projectors remain. You can see even exactly where the former projectionists stood when they were playing the old film reels - their footprints actually wore grooves into the flooring. History will always take center state here.
"My husband and I just love the theatre," said Jessica Huckaby, one of the board members. "We've been here for years, our girl used to work here in high school, and actually my husband's parents met at the theatre, fell in love, got married and had kids, so it's a huge family connection to the theatre."
Now, you can see free movies here on the weekends, and the theatre is host to all kinds of community events.
"We decorate the theatre for Halloween and Christmas, we try to bring the community back here during the Christmas tree lighting, we have a choir concert and free Christmas movies," Huckaby said. "We're really trying to bring everybody back to Maine Street and have that hometown community feel."
There's always work to be done on the aging building, but the volunteers are dedicated to making sure the historic site is around for generations to come.
"We're doing everything we can to preserve this building for another hundred years," Richardson said. "It's the anchor of downtown, it really is. It's what gives Fallon a sense of completeness. It's Americana at it's best."
The nonprofit is always looking for volunteers. To learn more about how you can help and see a schedule of upcoming events, visit https://www.fallontheatre.com/
