On October 15 the Ashland Firehouse Theater will reopen for the 2011 season. Movies will be shown every Saturday night (except November 26) through December 17.  The Ashland Community Theater Foundation, who manage and operate the Firehouse, is also planning a slate of eight movies for the spring of 2012.  The big news is that admission will be free. “Everybody loves the movies,” said Foundation Board member Ragan Phillips.  “Now everybody can attend.”

“We were very successful in this past spring of selling subscriptions, and there was strong support for our concept of a community theater,” Phillips continued. “But we would like to broaden our audience to include folks who have been more severely affected by tough economic times.  This is our way of making sure nobody is left out.”

The Foundation has undertaken a fund raising campaign to support the Firehouse Theater for the 2011-2012 season.  A goal of $5000 has been established for this 2011-2012 season, covering the fall series of nine movies and the spring series of eight movies.

“Our objective, “explained Michael Mudd, also a member of the Foundation Board, “is to break-even for the year.  Our major cost is the licensing of the movies we screen but we also have other, normal business expenses such as insurance, maintenance and cleaning, lease obligations, supplies and so forth. The $5000 in donations will allow us to offer our movie free to the public and keep our doors open as Ashland’s only community theater.”

The Foundation is finalizing an eclectic slate of great fall movies that will include The Bridge On the River Kwai, The Truman Show, Hocus-Pocus (for Halloween), High Noon, a foreign language film and two family-oriented movies.

The Ashland Firehouse Theater is located at the intersection of Hanover Avenue and Duncan Street in Downtown Ashland.  It opened in late 2009 under the auspices of the Ashland Community Theater Foundation (ACT) which leased the fire truck bays of the old Ashland Volunteer Fire Station from the Town of Ashland.  Under the guidance of Board member Alan Abbott, it was converted into a 125 seat, black box theater with excellent projection and audio. A small lobby serves as a concession area.

The Ashland Community Foundation is a 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization.  If you wish to make a donation to your community theater, obtain further information about the Theater and what’s playing, or find out how you can use the Theater for fund-raising or promotional events, please visit the web site at “AshlandFirehouseTheater.org” or email “rtphil204@aol.com.”