Thanks to Jasper LEADs’ recent Give Where You Live campaign, funding has been secured for a complete renovation of the historic Astra Theatre located on Jasper’s downtown square.

A complete $500,000 rehabilitation of the building’s exterior was already in motion after Next Act, Inc. received a historic preservation grant from the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs in August 2016.

Next Act had been working to close an additional $500,000 financial gap that would allow contractors to stay on-site and seamlessly transition to interior renovation work.

“Our goal has always been two-fold: finishing the Astra, of course, but then also figuring out a way to do it all at once so as not to disturb our neighbors downtown more than one time for major renovations,” said Leslie Hamby, Next Act’s chairperson.

A string of recent gifts, donations, and charitable acts — including funds from the Give Where You Live campaign — will make a fully-renovated Astra a reality. The goal is to have renovations on the theatre complete by spring 2018.

The string of funding began with a favorable bid by Seufert Construction for the OCRA historic preservation work that, barring any unforeseen circumstances, will enable Next Act to redirect dollars that were originally projected to cover out-of-pocket expenses related to the historic preservation project. The Dubois County Community Foundation, a crucial partner of Next Act from the organization’s earliest days, then committed a $50,000 grant toward the interior renovations, and coordinated gifts from multiple donors totaling an additional $50,000. Funds secured for complete renovation of Astra – Dubois County Herald