A Freeport Coming Attraction: Winneshiek Commons
If you’re like me, you’ve been involved with Winneshiek off on and on from a young age. I started in their children’s theater program, I’ve participated on stage and behind in many of their mainstage shows, and until recently, I served on the board. My wife first saw me performing in a show at Winneshiek so without that theater, there’s a good chance I would still be living in a leaky apartment, subsisting on nothing more than hotdogs & root beer. In fact, we kept Winneshiek in mind when we got married.
We had both decided that instead of gifts for our reception, we would prefer our friends and family donate to one of the local organizations that we participate in, one of which was Winneshiek. Winneshiek, as a community theater that can trace its roots to the Grant Administration, is one of the few remaining quintessential Freeport institutions. If you’ve never been there, 1. you’re missing out, and 2. you probably have a friend who is there every show. My wife and I were thrilled to be able to donate a healthy sum to such an institution.
The question was then, “What do they do with it?” One of the biggest problems I’ve seen as it relates to Winneshiek is the same as many small-town institutions: the only people that know about it are the people that already know about it. How do they branch out into the community at large? Winneshiek is community theater, so it needs to be part of the community.
The solution we came up with was to use one of the nearby vacant lots that the theater owns and turn it into an outdoor performance/rehearsal space. This space (weather permitting of course), could be used for rehearsal, one-off performances, concerts that often come through, as well as being an active presence in the community making the theater more visibly represented in the immediate neighborhood as well as downtown Freeport.
A few picnic tables and a simple stage, all surrounded with native flowers would be a relatively simple way of taking a vacant lot and turning into something useful. The hope was that not only would this be another venue for Winneshiek to use and rent out, but in off times, it could also serve as a small park space for the neighborhood. And that’s where we hit a snag.
Insurance won’t support an open-to-the-community space because of the liability, which is understandable. In fact, we would need to put a fence up to make it clear that it was private property. While this makes sense, it kind of defeats the purpose of the project. Winneshiek wants to be part of the community. Winneshiek wants to open its doors to anyone and everyone, especially those that have never come through yet. A fence and “no trespassers” sign are a bit antithetical to that approach. There have been a few other options proposed but they largely conclude with Winneshiek giving up property rights.
Here’s where you come in. I (adam.moderow@highland.edu) and Winneshiek proper (winneshiekplayers.org) are looking for guidance as to how we can save this project. The theater could use the donation for continuing maintenance but getting stuck in the cycle of maintenance virtually guarantees being overwhelmed. Progressive, forward looking, and community focused endeavors is the only path to survival. Winneshiek Commons, as we’re calling it, seems like a good step in that direction. The more the community assists Winneshiek, the more Winneshiek can assist the community. We haven’t been smart enough to figure out how. I’m hoping one of you lovely readers can help us.
