As you make a sharp turn into the town of Irvine, Kentucky – the heart of Estill County – the Mack Theatre welcomes you with its bold marquee. The theater is a historic landmark on Main Street, and was used as a stable before it was converted into a theater in the late 1930s. However, the Mack has not shown a film since 1993.
Today, River City Players, a local community theater group, is working to revive the Mack as a live performance space.
Their restoration work has gained speed over the past few years after years of raising money to buy the building. They secured a USDA grant to remove the asbestos and lead paint, and were awarded a HUD Community Development Block Grant in February 2019 to replace the roof and address structural issues with the walls. The Block Grant contributed $500,000 toward the project and has given them even greater momentum.
“We have saved the Mack. Now, we need to fix it,” said River City Players Board of Directors Bobby Carol Noland.
The River City Players started in 2013 to create a performing arts group for Estill County. Since then, they have presented several live productions and three drama camps in addition to their work on the Mack. Last year, they partnered with the Estill Arts Council to provide a combined performance and visual arts camp. Now an operating division of Estill Development Alliance, the community and the county government have been huge supporters of their work.
The Mack is not the only restoration in process in Estill County. Friends of the Fitchburg Furnace and the U.S. Forest Service are restoring the Fitchburg Furnace, an 81-foot structure built in 1868 in the hills of Estill County. It was the largest charcoal furnace in the world at the peak of the iron industry, when it employed more than 1,000 people. According to the Forest Service, its intricate architectural design places it among the top 25 dry-stone masonry structures in the world.
The Friends group believes the furnace is another way to draw out-of-area visitors to Estill County. In addition, the Kentucky Railway Heritage Center is restoring pieces of Estill County’s railroad history, with an eye toward developing tourism in the county. Read our coverage of the center here.
Preserving local landmarks helps us know where we came from, and better share interesting local history with visitors. Embracing our unique assets and working together to restore them is an essential part of Appalachia’s New Day.
About: This is story #32 in the Appalachia’s New Day campaign, a new storytelling effort launched in June 2019 by MACED for Eastern Kentucky communities. We can work with you to help identify, shape and amplify stories about businesses, programs and initiatives in your community that are helping build a new economy. Read more stories here. Contact us or sign up here if you would like more details.
