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‘It was a scary time for everyone’

Volunteers help Lake City's Capri Theatre thrive after pandemic

LAKE CITY -- Michelle Blair will never forget mid-March 2020.

"Spies in Disguise," a 2019 computer-animated comedy film, had played from March 13 to March 15 that year at the historic Capri Theatre in downtown Lake City, attracting a good crowd of 158 moviegoers during the weekend. That would be the last film shown at the Capri for months.

"We had to close when all the COVID-19 lockdowns started in mid-March," said Blair, who joined the all-volunteer, 11-member board of the Capri Theatre in 2008 and has served as board president since 2013. "We didn't know what the future would hold for the Capri, because no one knew how long the lockdowns would last."

During the pandemic, the cinema business was challenged like never before. Movie studios stopped making movies for months, and demand for online streaming services skyrocketed.

"It was a scary time for everyone, because there were so many unknowns," Blair said.

While moviegoers couldn't come to the Capri anymore, the theater's bills (from insurance to taxes to utilities) kept coming. By December 2020, the theater was facing red ink. Government grants designed to help theaters survive the COVID-19 pandemic kept the theater going. By early 2021, the Capri hosted some soft openings to encourage people to return to the theater, even though there were few movies available.

"By October 2021, we were finally able to open again on our regular Friday night, Saturday night and Sunday matinee schedule," Blair said.

The crowds slowly returned during the next year. Today, the volunteer-run theater has become a hub of the community once again. In recent months, hundreds of people flocked to the 396-seat theater to see the 2022 action-drama "Top Gun: Maverick" and "A Man Called Otto," a 2022 comedy-drama about a bitter old man, played by Tom Hanks.

"I support the Capri's mission statement of providing affordable family entertainment," said Blair, who noted that all tickets are $2. "I also like the nostalgia of this theater and am so glad people continue to support the Capri."

Lake City has had a rich history of movie theaters, starting with the Star Theater, which burned in the early 1900s. Next, the Iowa Theater was built on the west side of the historic town square. On New Year's Day 1958, the Iowa Theater burned to the ground.

Lake City was without a movie theater for a number of years until the new Capri Theatre, dubbed "Iowa's Most Beautiful Theater," opened on the site of the former Iowa Theater on June 30, 1965. The luxury theater included a stone wall, waterfall and pond east of the concession stand in the lobby. Back then, moviegoers could see hit shows like "The Unsinkable Molly Brown" and "Clarence, the Cross-Eyed Lion" for 85 cents (adult tickets) and 35 cents (children's tickets).

Times were good until the 1980s Farm Crisis. Business slowed so much that the Capri was only open sporadically.

Nick Burley enjoyed going to the Capri when he was in high school in the mid-1990s.

"I remember when 'Twister' came to Lake City," said Burley, referring to the 1996 film (parts of which were filmed in Iowa) about amateur storm chasers trying to deploy a tornado research device. "There were people lined up around the block to get into the theater."

The Capri was on its way to closing permanently, however, in the early 2000s. In 2002, a group of Lake City citizens talked the owner, Bob Fridley, into donating the theater to the community.

Fridley agreed, and local volunteers worked tirelessly to secure nonprofit status and open the theater to the public once again. Opening day arrived on March 8, 2003, to great success. Ever since then, volunteers from high school students to local businesses and families continue to operate the theater.

Ashley Thieszen, of Lake City, started volunteering at the Capri with her friend when they were in high school and now serves on the board.

"We could watch the movie for free and got free popcorn, and it was a blast," she said.

Capri board members meet every couple months and volunteer at the theater one night each month, with the assistance of additional volunteers. The Capri shows children's movies and family-friendly movies each weekend. Moviegoers typically come from four to five counties around Calhoun County.

"It's easy to get entertainment at home, with streaming services and more," said Burley, a farmer from Lake City who joined the Capri board about five years ago. "Seeing a movie in the theater is a unique experience that helps you connect with the community. That's why we try to keep our prices affordable."

The $2 ticket price and moderately priced concessions help support the operation of the Capri and also fund college scholarships for local students who volunteer at the Capri.

Thieszen orders the movies that are shown at the Capri, while her husband, Pat, volunteers as the movie projectionist.

"We love movies and the atmosphere at the Capri," said Thieszen. "It's fun to be involved with this historic theater."

Local businesses or individuals and families sometimes sponsor free tickets for the first 50 or 100 people who come to a movie. The Calhoun County Farm Bureau has worked with the Capri to help people learn more about modern agriculture. The organization has provided free tickets and popcorn for ag-related films like "Silo." In this 2019 film, disaster strikes a small American farm town when a teenager becomes the victim of a grain bin entrapment accident.

"We try to get movies that not every theater gets," said Burley, who noted that the Capri also accepts financial donations. The Capri has shown Iowa-based films like "Kinnick: The Documentary" (2022) about Hawkeye football legend Nile Kinnick, and "Silent Night in Algona" (2022), which tells the story of World War II German prisoners of war in Algona, and the nativity scene they made in 1944.

Whether people come to the Capri to watch a movie or just stop in to buy the fresh popcorn and take it home, the Capri's volunteers are glad the theater remains a gathering place for the community.

"There's nothing like the Capri," Thieszen said. "We want to see it continue."