- The Palaver Tree Theater has been in Crawfordville for a decade, but the owner says rising costs could force him to close.
- A community fundraiser has been started online to help raise money.
- Watch the video to hear from people in this neighborhood working to keep the doors open.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
After 10 years of running the theater and rising costs, the owner Herb Donaldson has been forced to make some hard decisions.
“It was just tough and I was like this is gonna be the final season and I thought it was gonna be it and it was done for the community came at me and said you need to think twice.”
After fans of the theater expressed their disappointment about the possible closure, they’re trying to save it.
One of those supporters is Celia Caputi, an artist who comes to the theater often.
“I cried, I actually wept, I was devastated and I was actually depressed for a while.”
Other fans like Jennie V Jones say this space is welcoming to all.
“This is the first time we’ve had a venue like this and for it to be supervised and maintained by an African-American we just don’t have anything in the county like this.”
That’s why Donaldson is trying to keep the theater open, because of the community its created here.
“We realize how much love is there is here for a tiny little spot like this, this is not a 1 million dollar place, but there’s more than 1 million dollars worth of love here.”
