Buskirk-Chumley turns 85

For decades, the Buskirk-Chumley Theater has\nremained one of the most recognizable buildings on Kirkwood with its bright red and white marquee and the iconic “Indiana” sign. But this landmark, which is celebrating its 85th anniversary this month, has not always been the place Bloomington residents know today.\nTo capture all of this history, and to also celebrate the anniversary, the Buskirk is featuring an exhibit at the Textillery Gallery that showcases the theater’s rich and eventful history. \n“There will be lots of newspaper articles, archival photos, photos of before and after the renovations, and an old film reel left over from prior to when Kerasotes bought it,” said David Pruett, the theater’s marketing director .\nThe Buskirk had its humble beginnings as one of the many theaters in downtown Bloomington. Built in 1922 by Harry Vonderschmitt, the Buskirk-Chumley, originally called the Indiana, was an addition to the collection of six other theaters Vonderschmitt owned and operated, Pruett said. The Indiana was built as a silent movie house, and on its opening night, Dec. 11, 1922, about 1,300 people lined the streets in hopes of entering.\nThe Buskirk is listed in the National Register of Historic Places, but little is known about the appearance of the interior when it opened, Pruett said.\n“There’s not a whole lot of evidence of what the theater looked like say, even 50 years ago,” Pruett said.\nA small number of existing photographs date back from the 1930s, and Pruett said by looking at these, it’s evident that on the sides of the stage there were castle facades, which were quite popular around that time.\nDuring the first years the theater was open, famous jazz musician and Bloomington native Hoagy Carmichael performed on a regular basis. Well-known as the writer of one of the most recorded songs of all time, “Stardust,” Carmichael started playing between movie showings at the Indiana, McClelland said. \n“Although Hoagy was originally a jazz performer, he had many films,” said Danielle McClelland, the theater’s executive director. “A lot of his film premieres were held (at the Indiana).” \nMcClelland said that not long after the grand opening of the theater, a movement to unionize all film projectionists around the country started. But the projectionists at the Indiana were all loyal to the Vonderschmitt family and they refused to join. It is rumored that in hopes of intimidating the projectionists at the Indiana, union agitators started a fire in 1933, McClelland said. Eventually the agitators won, and the projectionists at the Indiana joined their union.\nMcClelland said after the fire, the theater lost a lot of its original charm, but remodeling efforts restored the Indiana, and it was soon drawing in crowds again. Pruett said this restoration is what brought the “dog-bone” marquee that is now synonymous with the Buskirk.\nThe theater changed hands in 1955 when Harry Vonderschmitt died. Pruett said Vonderschmitt’s wife, Nova, took over the business and ran it for another 20 years. In 1975, when she felt she was no longer capable of running the theater, she sold it to Kerasotes Theaters Incorporated, which made many changes to the interior of the Indiana. In 1995, Kerasotes decided to donate the theater to the Bloomington Area Arts Council. Pruett said this might have been because the theater wasn’t making much money, and it was in need of many repairs.\nAfter receiving the gift, the Council organized fundraising efforts in hopes of attaining enough money to do major renovations. In 1999, the Council received the money, finished renovations and the former Indiana became known as the Buskirk-Chumley Theater.\nIn hopes of sustaining interest in the exhibit, Pruett said that it will be changed frequently and that they are looking for people with their own stories or photographs of the Buskirk to be added to the exhibit.\n“There’s not a whole lot of information about the theater,” Pruett said. “One of the things we’re trying to do is recapture the history. If we wait too much longer, a lot of things will probably be lost.”\nThe exhibit at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater opens at 6:30 p.m. Dec. 20 at the Textillery Gallery. For more information about the theater and its upcoming events go to www.buskirkchumley.org.