August 2024

Greetings, fellow Capitol enthusiasts!

While July was a quieter month for performances, the Capitol team was anything but idle. We’ve been busy preparing for an exciting upcoming season, refining our new website and ticketing systems, and tackling essential maintenance projects.

Maintaining a facility as grand as ours is no small feat! Did you know that the Capitol complex spans over 61,000 square feet, with an additional 12,000 square feet dedicated to parking? That’s a lot of space to care for!

Many of you know our building’s history as the Capitol Theater, originally opening its doors in June 1921 as a vaudeville and silent film venue. The Association to Preserve the Capitol acquired the building in 1986, along with three neighboring properties, to create the Civic Center. Our final expansion was in 1992, providing administrative offices and storage.

Over the past three decades, we’ve invested over $5 million in three major renovations to ensure the Capitol remains a premier performance venue. Despite these efforts, the ongoing upkeep of this historic building is a significant undertaking. Annual maintenance costs exceed $73,000, with utility bills adding another $48,000 to the tally. From fourteen separate roofs to over twenty exterior doors and countless feet of carpet, there’s always something to attend to.

Did you know we use over 1,100 rolls of toilet paper per season?

Keeping this gem of the lakeshore operating as an anchor of the downtown corridor is important to the staff, volunteers, donors, and Board members of the Capitol. It’s a cornerstone of our community, providing a world-class entertainment venue for Manitowoc. We’re excited to open our doors for another season and many more in the future.

Stay tuned, and let’s keep the Capitol stage vibrant!