Schellraiser's McGill Theater Restoration

The family-owned Schellraiser music festival is restoring the historic -- but long-abandoned -- McGill Theater near Ely, Nevada, as part of our privately funded mission to help revitalize downtown McGill.

In the three years since we purchased the property, we have installed a new membrane roof to prevent further water damage to the theater's interior. An abatement crew has also removed asbestos, lead paint, pigeon waste and other nasty stuff from the building, and a masonry restoration crew that specializes in historic preservation projects has restored and sealed the exterior brickwork.

Most recently, we worked with YESCO to design and install a new theater marquee, and we've teamed up with Gust Electric to restore power to the theater, where the lights have been out for many decades.

We're now fine-tuning our business plan for the theater, based on a mixed-use concept that would restore the main auditorium for movie screenings, concerts and other special events.

Our plan would also create a smaller second auditorium for screenings of classic, international, indie and arthouse movies; enlarge the lobby/concession area to create an off-hours retail space; and renovate an existing basement studio apartment to generate additional revenues that can help sustain theater operations.

All of our efforts to date have been privately funded, without a single penny from grants or loans.

But we need your help to continue our work: We're not a deep-pocketed corporation or a nonprofit organization that has a team of grant writers and a mile-long list of benefactors.

We're just one family who are passionate about preserving this local architectural treasure, and enhancing the local quality of life by promoting cultural activites in a community that we're so proud to call home.

Thank you in advance for your support!

-- Rudy Herndon, Schellraiser