Tipton’s Hardacre Theater will close under its current management following this weekend’s Hardacre Film Festival, according to an official statement released this afternoon. The closing will go into effect immediately after the festival’s conclusion Saturday night.
An on-location announcement will be made Saturday shortly after 3:00 p.m. Festival organizers plan to honor theater owner Stuart Clark for his years of support for both the venue and the festival itself. Established in 1997, the Hardacre Film Festival is the longest-running film festival in the state of Iowa, and the Hardacre Theater has been in continuous use as a theater and opera house since 1914.
The Hardacre Theater Preservation Association is currently pursuing nonprofit status in a bit to purchase and renovate the theater, however. You can learn more at thehardacre.org.
When reached via phone, Hardacre Film Festival Director Will Valet noted, “The festival is not done.”
“We’re confident we can raise the money to do this,” he said. “It wasn’t entirely unexpected that the theater would close at the end of the year because the move to digital projection has been so rapid, smaller theaters like the Hardacre have been forced to adapt or die. We’re confident we can raise the money to not only purchase the theater and run it as a nonprofit, but upgrade it as well.”
