(Radio Iowa) – The lone movie theater in Webster City reopened last (Thursday) night with a showing of “Thunderbolts” after being forced to close following a fire in November of 2023. Tyler Abens, of the HERO organization for the Webster Theater, says it’s taken a lot of time, fundraising and effort to restore the movie-house. “To get rid of the smoke smell and all that tar that covered everything in the theater, we basically had to gut the entire theater back down to the bones,” Abens says, “and so it’s all brand new. It’s very impressive.”

Jeff Pingel also helped to bring about the return of the Webster Theater, a process which was complicated by there being needed repairs that weren’t covered by insurance. “We had to scramble to come up with some pretty significant funds to save the marquee and all the limestone decorative on the front was in jeopardy of falling onto the sidewalk,” Pingel says, “so the community stepped forward, and through the grace of everybody being generous, we were able to raise enough money and get that taken care of.”

Webster Theater (Photo provided by KQWC)

Insurance coverage on the building alone was one-point-two million dollars, with another 300-thousand for the contents. A street party for the Webster Theater is scheduled for May 23rd to celebrate the reopening.