FARGO (KFGO) – The Fargo-Moorhead Community Theatre (FMCT) building in Island Park is being torn down this week and early next, nearly three years after the wooden beams in the roof of the Emma K. Herbst Playhouse failed during a performance of A Christmas Carol.
FMCT brought in contractors and structural engineers for assessments after the exterior walls of the building started heaving, and the building was deemed dangerous so the theatre company had to vacate the building immediately in December of 2019. They have been operating primarily out of the Hjemkomst Center since.
The playhouse was built in Island Park in 1967.
“It was built all through volunteers. There was not one loan, nothing. It was all gifted – I still have people who come into the theater and they’ll say ‘my grandfather was one of the electricians who volunteered his time.’ It was truly a community gift,” Judy Lewis, FMCT’s executive director, said.
The 2022 Island Park Master Plan by the Fargo Park District concurred with the need for demolition of the existing structure in favor of future outdoor performance venue alternatives.
As the building comes down next week, FMCT will be showing videos on their social media of people from the community reading letters of tribute to the space.
Lewis said that it’s tough to bid the building farewell.
“It’s sort of breathtaking when you walk into the building and you step on the stage…it rips your heart out when you think about everything that’s been created and built there, people standing shoulder to shoulder, giving their time and their hearts,” she said.
On Monday, Lewis says, the Fargo City Commission is slated to vote on a public private partnership between the city, FMCT, the Kilborne Group and another developer to build a building on NP Avenue across from the downtown fire station. FMCT would own the first floor and there would be apartments and parking in the rest of the building. Lewis says the theater would be twice the size of the Herbst Playhouse in Island Park, with 420 seats, as well as three classrooms and a large costumes and props storage space. If it is approved, the plan is to break ground on construction in June of 2023.
Lewis says until the new space is available, FMCT will remain at the Hjemkomst Center.
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