Time To Gussy Up!
This mountain town's 135-year old historic Jones Theater launches our crowd-funding campaign to raise money for repairs and updates to our building. We aim to raise sixty thousand dollars to re-insulate and restore the Jones Theater auditorium.
This includes fixing the floor of the auditorium with a concrete base, repairing the east wall of the auditorium and re-insulating it to keep the cold out in the winter. Also, the tired ol' heaters in the auditorium will be replaced with brand spankin' new energy efficient ones.
Hear Better
A very special part of the project is the installation of a hearing loop in the auditorium, which will enable those wearing hearing aids to hear the cinema films, as well as live theater and music. Headphones will also be provided for those with less severe hearing loss.
Gettin' Started
The duration of the campaign will be six weeks. Funds will then be used to start repair of the auditorium during the "Shakespeare in the Sangres" productions, which will take place during June and July in Garett Carlson's park behind the theater.
Our Leader
Anne Kimbell Relph, a former stage, screen and television actress in the 50 and 60's, came to the valley in 1992 to purchase some land and found the deserted and abandoned Jones Theater and rescued it from becoming a laundromat. She formed the non-profit Westcliffe Center for the Performing Arts and has lovingly presented live theater, movies and music in the theater for the last 22 years.
A Smidgen o' History
The brick building, which houses the Jones Theater today, was originally Kasper Klutz's saloon and pool hall in the 1880's, where miners could hang out and spend up what they earned from mining silver in nearby Silver Cliff and Rosita. In the 1920's a Westcliffe man, one June Canda, purchased the "Klutz" building and began showin' movies here, as well as hostin' other events right here in Westcliffe, Colorado.
The theater then passed through a number of owners until it became the Jones Theater and then in 1992 the Westcliffe Center for the Performing Arts, a not for profit corporation. It continues to serve Custer county and the towns of Westcliffe and Silver Cliff as the only movie house and live theater for many miles around.
Now if ya' haven't done it yet, Watch The Video!
Please Note: The Jones theater is the home of the Crystal Mountain Center non profit organization, doing business as the Westcliffe Center for the Performing Arts. All money raised will go to renovations on the Jones Theater building.
We also accept checks or money orders sent through the mail to: P0 Box 790, Westcliffe, CO. 81252.