Published: November 02, 2009 06:34 pm      

Fischer store lifts up the local label

DANVILLE — A new store soon opening in the downtown business district will carry only one brand name: Danville.

Opening Nov. 12, Stage Presents will sell more than 100 Danville-themed gifts.

“We have so much stuff,” said Fischer Theatre Heritage Foundation member and committee head Carol Nichols, “and everything has a Danville connection.”

Volunteers have spent the last few weeks putting the finishing touches on their theater storefront. Hand-painted signage on the front windows marks the new shop, located on the south side of the building. There are plans to finish window and interior displays during the next week.

“We’ll definitely be open through the holidays — after that, we’ll see,” Nichols said. For now, store hours will be 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays and will be staffed by volunteers.

The venture is the first phase of the foundation’s long-range plan to revitalize the theater building, which would

need extensive work before it could open for public events. Money raised from store sales will go toward the project.

The building has gone mostly unused for the past three years, save for an occasional tour offered by city officials. The foundation started the re-energized push for saving the Fischer last year.

Even in reclaiming a small corner of the building for Stage Presents, foundation members say they feel a certain level of victory.

“In whatever way we can, we want to use the theater,” said Cher Pollock, foundation president. “We want people in there.”

Pollock said just seeing the architecture inside the store area can turn residents claiming a history with the Fischer romantic.

“It has a beautiful interior with beautiful, wood display cases,” she said. There is hope that simply getting residents inside the store — even if they don’t buy anything — will help rebuild the community’s connection to the once-glamorous site.

For its part, the Stage Presents concept is to further the Danville connection by offering an expanding line of gifts made in Danville by Danville people, carrying a Danville theme or connected to the “Five Stars” — the most famous being Dick Van Dyke and Gene Hackman.

“It’s pretty incredible how many different things we have in our collection,” Nichols said. “There’s just an amazing network of people in this area who are creative.”

Among the items at the store: Vermilion County artists, including local-landmark artist and committee member Amy Chrisman, will sell artwork, jewelry and other items on consignment; books and movies by “Five Star” members will be offered; and special-edition bricks with “Fischer” etched on one face will be presented for the first time.

“If it’s made by someone from Danville or about Danville, we want to have it on the shelves,” Nichols said.

Residents can add to the inventory as well. Anyone can suggest a Danville-connected item be included in the collection. Committee members are asking residents to keep watch for and donate unused movies or television-show collections starring Danville’s most-famous.

“We haven’t been able to stock all of the movies because some of them are out of production,” Nichols said. “If anyone runs across some new CDs at a sale somewhere and wants to donate them, we’d love to have more. Gene Hackman has 100 (movie and television credits) himself.”

The store recently convinced the publisher of an out-of-print Van Dyke-authored book to find additional copies for sale. The book includes an audio CD of Van Dyke reading it. For easier listening, there’s a coffee cup with a Van Dyke-penned caricature on it in stock.

Nichols said the foundation is working on plans to use unusable glass pieces from the theater marquee to create more Fischer-inspired gifts. She said the store also will welcome locally themed items from other area fundraisers left with unused inventory.

“Right now the question is where we’re going to put everything,” she said.

There is similar available floor space on the north side of the theater and a developable lobby area as well, but Nichols said the foundation isn’t currently publicly discussing future phases of the plan until finalized.

“We’ll have utility costs we didn’t have before,” she said, “but any extra will help us fund the next phases. As soon as we’re close to knowing (what’s next), we’ll let you know.”