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Gateway Center’s Board of Directors has selected Miner’s Institute Foundation as the recipient of the 2015 Festival of Trees.
Photo by Roger Starkey
The Miner’s Institute Foundation is currently in the midst of a fundraising campaign to raise the funds necessary to get the theater open for business and able to support future restoration work.
The Miner’s Theatre opened in 1918. The construction of the building was paid for by the local miners unions. The theater brought entertainment to the city of a class not usually seen in cities of this size. The second and third floors gave a permanent home for the union offices and provided a central meeting place for the mining locals. These floors were also used by various community groups for social activities and housed a small library which was the beginning of the present day Collinsville Memorial Public Library.
The need to preserve this remarkable structure of such historic and cultural importance is also clear and evidenced by its being placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985, named a Collinsville Progress Historic Landmark in 1993, and a City of Collinsville Historic Landmark in 2013, a spokesperson for the MIF said.
Gateway Center’s Annual Festival of Trees began in 1993 as a fundraising gala to support local, particularly Collinsville, organizations and projects. Since the Festival of Tree’s inception, the Collinsville Convention Authority Board of Directors, representing Gateway Center, along with the year’s chosen charity committee, has offered over $500,000 to the local community.
Festival of Trees guests enjoy unlimited food and drinks as they stroll the 40,000 square foot space filled with Christmas decor, one-of-a-kind trees, wreaths, and tablescapes. A secret panel of judges chooses their favorite trees, with the Grand Prize tree up for grabs in the tree raffle. Guests also enjoy a live band playing holiday music.
Past recipients of the Festival of Trees such as Collinsville Progress, the Cahokia Mounds Museum Society, Collinsville Charities for Children and the Collinsville Education Scholarship Foundation have earned in excess of $20,000 each year in exchange for planning and executing this invitation only event that is attended by more than 900 guests.
“It’s really a lot of work, and it takes a dedicated group of volunteers to pull it off, but the reward makes it well worth the effort” said MIF Fundraising Chairman Eric ODonnell. “The theatre requires significant renovation to make it compliant with current building codes before it can be opened to the public, and we are extremely grateful to the Gateway Center Board of Directors for recognizing the importance of this project and awarding us this honor for 2015.”
Those interested in the restoration efforts, or who want to participate or contribute, may visit www.historicminersinstitute.org, follow the foundation on Facebook/Miners Theatre or contact 618-972-4236 or MinersInstitute@gmail.com.
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