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Dr. Bob Dewel Dr. Dewel Home Contents Sample Article
--Baraboo’s Three Cultural Sisters-- Yesteryear Revisited By Bob Dewel—December 9, 1997 In this, the seventh in a series about some of the benefactors of Baraboo, the author compares and contrasts the fortunes of three major cultural institutions. A related and somewhat similar article told of Baraboo's four uncles. Imagine if you will that the City of Baraboo is like a family, with the City Council and their departments as the parents, trying to be fair with the varying needs of their children. The children, in this little analogy, would be the various quasi-governmental groups as well as some independent public service agencies which exist in the city. Both groups help make Baraboo the interesting and remarkable city that it is. Gender assignment here is arbitrary, but some of the children of the city might be called “brothers”, including the athletic facilities like tennis, hockey, the Pierce ball park, the summer outdoor swimming pool, industrial parks, and even the airport. All are partially or fully subsidized by the city. There are also “sisters” in the family. These might include the zoo, fireworks, and band concerts, etc. Thus the family members listed so far represent athletics, business interests, casual entertainment, and patriotic services by the city. However, there are three very special sisters in our Baraboo family analogy, and they could be called the “cultural sisters.” They provide ongoing opportunities for cultural involvement by the citizens. They are: 1. The University Center, with its emphasis on education. 2. The public library, with the written word as its primary contribution. 3. The theatre, providing as its specialties the spoken word, vocal and instrumental music, and dramatic arts. It also acts as a small Renaissance-style art gallery. One can beat an analogy to death, but there are numerous areas of comparison and contrast in the relation of these three cultural. Each is now considered separately, and then comparisons will be made. UW Baraboo-Sauk County College Known until recently as the Center, the college has a dual relationship to Baraboo and Sauk County As agreed at its inception in 1966, the physical plant was erected at the joint expense of the city and the county. The buildings are also maintained over the years by the same governments. The University System staffs and operates the facility separately. In effect, Baraboo provides some 60 per cent or more of the physical costs, since Baraboo taxpayers pay not only the Baraboo share, but as citizens of the county they also pay part of the county’s share. This applies only to the taxpayers of Baraboo. Despite its close proximity to the college, West Baraboo only pays its part of the county share. Surprisingly, the only reasonable route to the campus from Baraboo is through West Baraboo . Within the year (1997) two major events have impacted the campus. One is completion of the magnificent athletic facility donated from the Lange estates. This is the largest bequest, some four million dollars, ever received by any of the public colleges around the state. The other event is the joint contribution of about one and a half million each from the city and the county for upgrading of the older buildings, etc, Again, the city of Baraboo bears the lion’s share of this cost. There have been many other donations to the campus over the years, often coordinated by the group known as the “Friends of the Campus.” The college provides two years of higher education to area students without the financial burden of living and eating away from home. Sauk County money stays at home! This fine institution of higher learning is now even finer with the Lange addition and the coming upgrades. The college, then, qualifies as one of our three “cultural sisters.” The Public Library The oldest of the three sisters is the Baraboo Public Library, which traces its origin at least as far back as a storefront on Third Street in the late 1800’s. The southern wing of the present building was constructed in 1903, with at least part of the cost being a donation from industrialist Andrew Carniege, the Ted Turner of his day. Over the years there have been countless donors, large and small, to the library. The most recent large donors have been the Lange bequest, as well as Ritzenthaler and Nessler gifts, and a yet to be publicized bequest of well over $100,000. With that, the library will have an enviable and generous endowment fund of about a million dollars! In addition, for most if not all of its history, the library has been the recipient of a yearly stipend from the city, which amounted to some $350,000 last year. The library staff are all city employees. Moreover, in 1982 the city enlarged the library to well over double its size in a building program which cost $716,000. This “cultural sister” has been an exceptional provider of the written word for over 100 years. It is an institution for which Baraboo citizens can be very proud. The third “cultural sister”, which provides the spoken word and vocal and instrumental music, as well as dramatic arts and dance, is represented in our analogy by the opulent and magnificent Al Ringling Theatre, “America’s Prettiest Playhouse.” Unlike the two previous institutions, this sister was built and maintained for 75 years by private enterprise. Not only that, but unlike the others, it paid taxes TO the city, and was often used for public service purposes such as war bond rallies during the world wars. By its presence, albeit in private hands, the city was relieved of the need of constructing at public expense a civic auditorium. This would have required two or three failed referenda, and probably would have been a building of Spartan qualities, rather than the meaningful period style of the Al Ringling, which attracts national recognition. It was in 1989, 74 year after its construction, that the previous owners made it available for sale, probably to be cut up into three or four mini-rooms, with no stage and a white screen at one end---hardly deserving to be called a theatre. Citizens from Baraboo and elsewhere rose to the challenge and purchased the theatre. Unfortunately, most of the recent owners had allowed the grand old lady to fall into disrepair. The “Al Ringling Theatre Friends” group was formed, not unlike the University’s Friends of the Campus, but with a far more daunting task. The theatre has received a few bequests so far, and has wisely set up an endowment fund of $400,000, similar to the library fund but much smaller. Like the library fund, only the interest can be used for theatre purposes.
Unfortunately, The gradual lack of regular maintenance the past four decades has left the theatre in need of major and costly renovations. So far the roof and outer walls have been repaired, and the façade awaits replacement (Update: the beautiful terra cotta façade is now restored in 2004 at a cost of $850,000). Then the building will have been protected by sort of a cocoon, and the interior can be properly restored. The Third cultural sister therefore, upon receiving her terra cotta facelift, can then be returned to its former glory. All of this, so far, has been accomplished by private funds, with only a token gift of seed money from the Alma Waite Fund to spur purchase of the property, Comparisons and Contrasts As in any family, the Baraboo brothers and sisters in our analogy have a different life story. All contribute in their own way to the excellent quality of life we enjoy in Baraboo. But notice, if you will, that all but one of the family members mentioned in paragraphs three, four, and five share in support from the city. In all analogies there are exceptions, and that is the case here. When it comes to support from the city, only the theatre has been left out for 82 years, with the exception of the token gift in 1989. This was not even from the city tax funds, but from the Alma Waite fund, and was little more than 5% of the amount needed. In contrast, that Alma Waite fund has given four times the amount to the open air band concerts, which are great. Similar funds have gone to fire works and very significant tax funds have gone for the written word (library) and education (the college). Few persons question that these are worthy causes, and their support should continue Supporters of the spoken word and of music and drama (the theatre) now feel that significant support is needed there also. They say that the theatre, which is the first of the palatial picture theatres built in this country, is now the Cinderella of the family—no offense to the other sisters; this analogy doesn’t go that far! Unlike the fairy tale, however, this princess began in glory, with many princes over the years, and ends up as Cinderella, in need of help!. Supporters say that significant city support for the theatre at this time will encourage private individuals and trusts to pitch in and restore this still active and operating cultural heritage. Some persons may give anonymously, just as they do to the library and the college, despite the massive public funding those institutions recieve. But the time has come, they believe, for the city to demonstrate a comparable level of support for this the third of the “cultural sisters” of Baraboo! [ The above article was written in 1997 By 2004 some progress has been made, for the façade has been completed. The city, not by taxes but via dispensation from the highly restricted Alma Waite Fund, has now contributed $150,000 toward the restoration. Current budget restrictions make it unlikely that tax funds will ever be made available to the theatre, although the library is again planning expansion and will get help. The theatre remains open and in significant use throughout the year, but the need remains and grows. ]
Dr. Dewel Home Contents Sample Article Copyright by :
Dr. Robert Dewel
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The Al Ringling
Theatre 
