A 14-year effort to restore the Holly Theatre is completed; The Piano Guys perform March 13

By Damian Mann for the Rogue Valley Times

A team of local artisans and craft people have helped finish a 14-year effort to raise the curtain on the historic Holly Theatre in downtown Medford.

The movie palace with its massive 1,008-seat auditorium will debut the first two acts next week, announcing the theater as a major performing arts center.

The Piano Guys, who have released 13 albums and performed around the world, will be the opening act on Thursday, March 13. Jim Belushi and The Sacred Hearts will perform on Friday, March 14.

Belushi, a famous actor, singer and performer helped raise money for the theater and performed for 2,000 people almost a decade ago in a fundraising effort. Local band Duke Street will open the Belushi concert. For more information on the Holly or to get tickets, go to hollytheatre.org.

It’s been almost 100 years since the Holly wowed local audiences in 1930. The theater showed its last movie in 1986.

When the Holly first opened, it was the largest movie palace in the region.

The theater now has state-of-the-art lighting and sound systems as well as a larger stage that will welcome a variety of live performances.

“What I’m really pleased with is that we were able to use local artisans and craft people to do just about everything,” said George Kramer, an Ashland-based restoration expert who has been involved with the Holly for nearly two decades.

These local artisans replicated woodwork, recreated fluted columns, stenciled the sound walls and produced hundreds of detailed elements that bring the Holly back to life.

“What a great thing to live in a valley with the skill and capacity to do it,” Kramer said. “And everybody was proud to do it.”

He said restoring various features in the building has been a painstaking effort, relying on information from the 1930s and from working with one or two salvaged lights or other pieces that were still intact.

A larger stage was built to accommodate live acts. The original auditorium was primarily used for showing films.

When the Holly opened in 1930, “talking pictures” were about to replace silent films and the theater was built with that feature in mind.

The building, in a Spanish Colonial Revival style, was designed by renowned local architect Frank C. Clark, who is credited with many other downtown buildings and Medford residences.

Since 2011, when the Ashland-based nonprofit JPR Foundation purchased the Holly, a community effort began that raised nearly $13 million from 3,300 donors for the restoration effort.

In 2012, the building facade was restored along with the marquee and blade sign. Roof repairs were also undertaken.

The lobby, offices, bathrooms and other areas were restored in previous years.

The auditorium, which had heavy timbers stacked up to shore up the sagging roof in 2012, has taken years to finish.

Hundreds of crafters and artisans have been involved in the detailed work needed to recreate the illusion of being on the canals of Venice using a unique interplay of hand-painted elements and multi-colored lighting systems.

Two balconies on either side of the stage originally featured relatively low-quality countryside images.

In a nod to the scenic beauty of Southern Oregon, Kramer said a decision was made early on that one of the balconies should feature a scene of Crater Lake and the other of Mount McLoughlin. The scenes of the area’s landmark features were taken from photos taken around the time the Holly was built.

Kramer said the Holly restoration weathered a few periods that slowed things down.

“It took longer than anybody expected, and COVID didn’t help,” he said.

The Holly is managed by Jefferson Live!, a self-supporting division of the JPR Foundation, which also runs the Cascade Theatre in Redding, California. With 1,008 seats, the Holly is the largest indoor performing arts venue between Eugene and Redding.

“Anybody can restore a theater with enough time and money,” Kramer said. “Operating a theater is an art, and JPR can do that. I think it is going to be great.”

Kramer said he’s already gotten tickets for the Warren Haynes Band, which is scheduled to perform on April 26. Haynes is a Grammy-award winning artist who has played with other top acts over the years such as Dave Grohl, the Grateful Dead and Dolly Parton.

According to Tiffany Maude, general manager of the Holly, the operation of the theater is estimated to add $3.25 million annually to the local economy.

Medford Councilor Kevin Stine, who joined the council just after the Holly restoration began, said, “It’s exciting for Medford to have this restoration accomplished. We all know this has taken some time to get to this point, but the support from the many volunteers, donors and community has been strong to see this through.”

Reach freelance writer Damian Mann at [email protected]. This story first appeared in the Rogue Valley Times.