Capitol Arts Complex Tornado Relief Fund

By now, many of you (certainly the Romans, anyway) know about the EF-2 tornado that passed through downtown Rome on the afternoon of Tuesday, July 16. The tornado, which reached speeds of 135 mph, was 300m wide at its widest and its path ran directly over the Capitol's home on the 200 block of West Dominick Street.

We are very fortunate in many ways.

Our staff -- Art, Jon, Rick, AJ, Julie, Joe, Kylie, and of course Jeannine, our theatre cat -- are all safe and accounted for.

The main theatre is, generally, in good shape. Amazingly, the marquee is intact. The front administrative office windows were shattered and a wooden plank was driven through the roof. The fire escape was wrenched off on one side. With the help of our staff and many selfless, generous volunteers from the community, the windows were boarded up. The auditorium, and projection booth were unaffected and we will be able to operate again as soon as power is restored (which we are hoping will be very soon).

However, Cinema Capitol, our independent cinema next door to the historic auditorium, sustained heavy damage, and we will need to do extensive repairs before reopening. Portions of the roof and HVAC unit boilers were blown off, leaving room for large amounts of water to pour into the upstairs, screening rooms, and projection booths. Our rear rehearsal building will also be out of commission for some time as repairs are conducted.

We are resilient, and we will build back even better than we were before. But here is where we need our community's help. Though the damage was substantial, the theatre is insured. However, there are expenses from the deductible and other incidentals that are not covered, and with the indefinite closing of Cinema Capitol, the loss of income means difficulty paying our amazing staff and meeting our other ongoing bills. Any little bit of support that you can offer at this time will go a long way to getting us back in business as quickly as possible, so we can keep opening our doors to our neighbors and serving our community.

Please give if you are able. And if you're not able, help us get the word out.

The Capitol wouldn't be the Capitol without you. Thank you so much for your support.