Friends of Englewood want community input on theater’s future
INDEPENDENCE, Mo. (KCTV) - Monday night, Friends of Englewood held a community meeting to provide updates on acquiring the Englewood Theater building, its parking lot, and the Ben Franklin Five and Dime building. They also asked the community what they would like to see the buildings become.
“We are hosting a community conversation,” said GK Callahan, an engagement specialist at the University of Missouri Extension, who hosted Monday night’s meeting and lives in the Englewood area. “I’m not only a neighbor, I am involved in some of the volunteering efforts here. When I moved here, I gained a community.”
Ahead of the meeting, residents stood outside the theater, reminiscing.
“I standing in line out here on this sidewalk to see Help! The Beatles movie,” said Jim Howard, who was raised in Independence. “I was only 9 or 10, and I being in line with these fantastic teenage girls and they were singing Beatles songs.”
Cindy Kupka grew up a few blocks down the street from the theater.
“It was the thing you wanted to always go to,” said Kupka. “My sister, who was 20 years older than me, would take me. She would tell me I couldn’t whine or make noise, or we’ll put you in the cry room in the back. When I got in high school, I met the guy who is now my husband, and he took me up here to see shows.”
Kupka and her husband both attended the meeting.
“Englewood was incredible and the theater just made it the best place to go,” said Kupka. “I want it to be a theater again, but I think it would be ok to have programs, shows, where people can act out and do things. It wouldn’t have to be just movies only. It’s just got to open back up and I will be in the line as long as it is to be in there the first time.”
Howard agrees.
“I would love to see the theater, and the neighborhood in general, just grow,” said Howard.
Friends of Englewood is the group looking to not just purchase the Englewood Theater and its parking lot, but the Ben Franklin Five and Dime building as well. Brent Schondelmeyer, its president, says input like Kupka’s and Howard’s is important when they look to the future of these buildings.
“We have two interesting and important and concurrent conversations going on: sharing with the community what our plans are in of acquiring it, hearing from the community, and also trying to talk with bankers and financial institutions about loaning us the money to be able to acquire the property,” said Schondelmeyer. “We want to show there is community for this project and that the community will rally around to make acquisition possible.”
In the meeting, it was stated everything in total will cost $850,000 and the organization has been allowed to buy everything in phases. They will first purchase the theater and the parking lot for $600,000 first. That closing date is May 30, 2025. They will then buy the Ben Franklin building for $250,000, with the closing date for that Jan. 30, 2026.
The project will take years. Schondelmeyer says they hope to continue holding meetings like Mondays to keep the community informed and provide updates
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