These are exciting times at The Murphy Theatre.
COVID finally appears to be in our rearview mirror, we’re enjoying back-to-back record-breaking annual membership, growing audience numbers, a wider variety of entertainment offerings, including national acts gracing our stage, and increased participation from our local businesses, the city, county, even the state; all in the spirit of cooperation, to keep this landmark in the center of a historic downtown alive and well.
We have a 73-year old marquee, the fourth one in the life of The Murphy Theatre, and the sign that has lasted the longest by far. Sadly though, it has seen better days. The harsh winters and exposure to other elements has brought us to the point of much needed repairs. We can no longer kick this can down the road, and a simple coat of paint won’t do the trick.
There was a choice. Do we dare take the easy route and simply tear this marquee down and replace it, like others have in the past, or, do we repair this iconic structure, and keep it as true to its current look as much as we possibly can, returning all its bells and whistles while enhancing its functionality to meet the demands of the 21st Century?
One can only imagine the emotions from the locals when learning back in the day about the decision to simply replace their marquee, instead of repairing it. When you do the math, the other three marquees must have had an average life span of right around ten years. And this one is 73! You could easily argue the need to simply replace this one.
We chose to do the latter of our two options. Rather than replacing it, we are repairing this marquee. One of the many challenges in this effort, is finding all the replacement parts. Through our extensive research and in consultation with sign experts near and far, we have learned some of the malfunctioning parts on our sign are simply no longer available, and some of the technology to make the lights function as they once did is obsolete.
So, we presented our repair and restoration outline to the Wilmington Planning Commission, answered all of their questions, and were approved to move forward with our project.
We are excited to launch 2000 Bulbs of Light. Along with our partnership with Merchants National Bank, 2000 Bulbs of Light is our Marquee Repair and Restoration Fundraising Campaign.
This fundraising campaign has no government dollars attached to it. Instead, we are going directly to the public, our generous patrons, those who have been supporting us, attending our shows and events, lending a hand, actually being present at the theatre.
This summer, The Murphy Theatre will be turning 105 years old, so for every contribution of $105, we will present you with one of the bulbs from our current marquee.
OWN A PIECE OF MURPHY HISTORY — CONTRIBUTE TODAY!
On-site work began on Monday, July 31 (please excuse our scaffolding!), and work is anticipated to be
completed in October.
OUR GOAL IS TO MAINTAIN THE LOOK OF THIS
HISTORIC LANDMARK!
The marquee will not be larger, and the “blade” (that very cool vertical center piece that says “MURPHY”) will not be taken down and shipped away to be worked on as is the case with most theatre signs similar to ours. Our marquee will be repaired and restored by a local company.
The original bells and whistles of the sign will be restored — some of which many Wilmington residents may have never seen functioning in their prime!
With the energy-saving tweaks we are making to the sign, The Murphy Theatre will save thousands of dollars on utility costs alone annually.
The message panel that we currently change manually on a near-daily basis, the panel you see as you drive past the theatre, will be updated to a digital panel. It will have the same look as the current panel, but it will be cleaner, still with the lines going across the panels, and the letters the same size as we use now, only we’ll be ab
The message panel that we currently change manually on a near-daily basis, the panel you see as you drive past the theatre, will be updated to a digital panel. It will have the same look as the current panel, but it will be cleaner, still with the lines going across the panels, and the letters the same size as we use now, only we’ll be able to change this sign from a laptop, smartphone, or iPad. The panel on the other side will remain as is, but cleaned up and repaired as well.
When you only have one or two shows a month, changing the message from the ladder isn’t so difficult, but quite a different story when you have four, sometimes five different events within one week or believe it or not, sometimes within three days, that need to share that marquee.
In compliance with city code, we will not change this signage any more often than once every 60 minutes. There will be NO flashing graphics, NO scrolling, and NO brightly colored changing images!
The lumens emanating from the panels will be able to be dimmed for later in the evening, something we cannot currently control.
Thank you for your support of our 2000 Bulbs of Light Campaign, and thank you to those who have already made their donation!
Dr. Chad and Amanda McKay
Tom & D.D. Breckel
Lisa & Victor Haines
Anonymous
Jim & Susie Heimbach
Joe Spicer
Jean Black
Julie Butcher
Jeff and Marina Dodaro
Will and Donna Barnhart
Jay & Karen Williams
The York Family
Laura Brown
Marsha Bennett
Joe and Laura Moore
Dave Gilkerson Family
Jill & Terry Richard
T. Alex & Jamie Beres
Mallory and John Behan
Samuel Stratman
Greg & Jennifer Grove
Brad & Darcy Reynolds
Anonymous
Anonymous
Anonymous
Tanya Day, Jordan, Mackenzie, Griffin, and Jillian Snarr
Dan and Marla Stewart
Dr John & Jennifer Hollon
Sally & Stephen Buchanan
Bruce F. & Dorothy J. Henry
Diana Rhinehart
Luke G's HS Graduation
Charles Watts
Andrew Brown
James and Brenda Brackman
Gene & Sharon Breckel
Anonymous
Jim & Barbara Rhinehart
Pat & Candy Fenner
Pat Moorman
Sylvia & Merle Henry
Jeff & Janell Smart
Charles and Karen Manor Garman
Neil and Veronica Campbel
Joyce Kelly
John & Nancy Stanforth
Dale & Lynne Adkins
Paul & Colleen Fear
Mary Banner
Gregory Oliver
Christine & Gerald Krisa
John & Carol Joy
May Gerchack & Dave Stewart
Pat & Terry Thompson
Brian & Angella Boyd
Bill & Loretta Stackhouse
George and Colleen Bailey
Jacob Ingersoll
Gwendolyn Bogan
Cindy Camp
Randy and Shelly Williamson
Joyce & Sam Kaeser
Lori A. Burton-Cluxton
Vicki Trapp
Anonymous
Brian & Elizabeth Smith
Barbara Bernard Loudenslager
Taylor Stuckert
Anonymous
Mark & Lori Williams
Sharon A. Oliver
Amanda Martin
Jack and Charlotte Gasaway
Charlie & Rachel Hargrave
Anonymous
Timothy Larrick
Cheri & Dan Hunter
Darrell & Jennifer McIntosh
Eric Belfrage
Alison Belfrage
Susannah Davids
Lisa Elcok
Ruth Ann Faris
Carole France
John Haberfield
The Harkins Family
Erin & Lj Jellsion
Judy Johnston
Rick and Steph Moreton
Jason & Margaret Morgan
John Murphy
Butch & Dollie Peelle
Jor and Cindy Petrich
Leilani and Tom Popp
David & Mary Ann Raizk
David & Suzie Rice
Tanya Day, Jordan, Mackenzie, Griffin, and Jillian Snarr
Aunt Charlotte
Aunt Dutch
Terri Stauffer
Doug and Melinda Tilton
Mason Schaffer
Tom & Jennifer Walker
Jay Walraven
Sara Borton
Zach McCune
Dustin Pearce
Priscilla Wahrhaftig
Rick Kneisel
Eileen Brady
Mark & Rita Miars
Connie & Rick Adams
Bob & Phyllis Storer
Gary Page
Carol Yegerlehner
Rick and Shanna Cheney
Richard W. Kolmin
Don and Cindy Maher
Edie Marshall
Todd & Marnie Reed
Daniel McCamish
Kyle Murphy
Laura Joppru
Angela Thompson
Nina Kersey
Blane Saunders
Judith Sargent
Phil Swindler
Michael Anderson
Roger & Lana Hughes
Jeff & Jen Sommer
John Dehan
Ruth Jean Horton Miller
Steve & Linda Glazewski
In Memory of Robert Brown
Dale & Jennie Brown
Rod & Nancy McKay
Matthew & Laurie Krakowiak
Jeremy & Toni Carter
Alan and Sandy Fuller
KC & Cathy Fox
Jim and Sherrill Graham
Air Transport Services Group
Kava House
Collett Propane
Brown Funeral Home
American Equipment Service
Wilmington Auto Center/Chrysler Dodge Jeep-Ram
General Denver Hotel
Carrie Zeigler, State Farm Insurance
Kruger and Hodges Attorneys at Law
Clinton County Motor Sports
Wilmington Dental Arts
Hitachi Astemo, America's Charity Golf Outing
Champion Bridge
People's Bank
Orange Frazer Press
Fancy Free Cloggers
Hitachi Astemo Americas Charity Golf Outing
Wilmington Dental Arts
Amicitia Club of Blanchester
Wilmington Hope House
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