Sasha Neely

Advocacy Campaign

Part I. Campaign Design

A. Problem
The Elks Theater of Middletown, the second-oldest continuously running theater in the
United States, has been closed since April 2015. Its current owner, the Middletown Industrial
and Commercial Development Authority (MICDA), has shown itself to be incompetent and
unwilling to take the necessary steps towards the re-opening of this valuable piece of the
Middletown community. After failing to accept a $500,000 state grant for refurbishment
purposes in 2016, MICDA continues to hurt the theater’s future through indecisiveness and
hesitation in their dealings with the non-profit organization Friends of the Elks. After agreeing to
sell the theater to the organization in early 2017, the Middletown Borough has since gone back
on their word and have refused contact with Friends of the Elks on more than one occasion. A
year after their initial proposal to buy the property, the Friends of the Elks still have no decision
from the Borough. Worse yet, discussion of the Elks issue does not appear on any of MICDA’s
publicly-available agendas or minutes. The Borough needs to come to a decision on the Friends
of the Elks proposal for the sake of the theater and its future as a multi-entertainment venue for
the people of Middletown.

B. Goals
Short-Term:
- Increase awareness of the Borough of Middletown’s mismanagement of the Elks Theater
- Rally the citizens of Middletown to contact the Borough and/or attend a Council Meeting
in support of the Friends of the Elks bid to buy the property
Intermediate:
- See the Borough of Middletown follow through and sell the Elks Theater to Friends of
the Elks
Long-Term:
- The refurbishment and re-opening of the Elks Theater as a multi-entertainment venue for
the community-members of Middletown
- Middletown having a venue to host live events (plays/dramas put on by local groups,
concerts by up-and-coming artists, etc.) while also having a theater to view current and
classic movies

C. Target Audience
- The community-members of Middletown, particularly those who have
sentimental/nostalgic ties to the Elks Theater
D. Objectives
- By the week of April 23: Create an information campaign using both print and media to
increase awareness of the problem in preparation for the Borough meeting
- By May 1: Have at least five hundred townspeople sign a petition in support of Friends of
the Elks to show to the Borough Council
- By May 1: Compile a short video of citizens recounting their personal memories of the
Elks and desire for the theater to reopen to show to the Borough Council
- On May 1: Have at least thirty people show up to the Borough meeting to personally
speak in front of the council and show physical support for Friends of the Elks

E. Strategies & Tactics

- Information campaign
- Create an article to be published in the Press & Journal, the local newspaper of
Middletown delivered to 42 physical establishments, approximately 5,000
individual subscribers, and 30,000 unique visitors to their website each month
- Create a flyer to hang at community hotspots (the Brownstone Cafe, bulletin
boards at houses of worship, gas stations)
- Hand out brochures/give a small speech at community dinners before mingling
with diners (every Monday of the month from 4:30 to 6:30 PM- cycles through
the Presbyterian Congregation of Middletown, St. Peter’s Lutheran Church,
Wesley United Methodist Church, Middletown First Church of God, and
Evangelical United Methodist Church)
- Create Facebook page with compilation of flyers/article/brochures, ask Friends of
the Elks page to link (followed by 1,226 people who continuously ask for updates
on their progress), interact with individuals
- Signed petition
- Digital petition, ask Friends of the Elks to link
- Stand in the business district with an iPad, cold-call passers-by (best time: outside
Brownstone Cafe at Sunday brunch, also good location because within direct view
of the Elks Theater)
- Short video of memories
- Contact individuals using formal Facebook page, individuals identified by their
positive comments on Friends of the Elks homepage
- Once body of individuals determined, make arrangements that suit the schedules
of both parties, location to be determined (most likely public, in front of the Elks)
- Specifically ask spokesperson of Friends of the Elks to be included, want to
include their thoughts at the end of the video, segue into personal speeches once
shown at the meeting

- Thirty people at the Borough Meeting

- Individuals informed through the print/media campaign and Facebook page
 - Ask people involved in petition-signing/video-making for their presence
- Again ask Friends of the Elks to advertise to their followers, send information to
500 people on their email subscription updates
- Write out four to six small speeches to be spoken by willing individuals in front
of the Council at the time when the general public can raise their concerns
- Present the Council with the video and petition, further demonstrating the
seriousness and commitment of the people of Middletown to the Elks Theater

F. Message

The Elks Theater embodies our home more than any other venue in the town we share. Join me
in saving this treasured piece of our history so that it may continue to serve our community for
generations to come.

G. Talking Points
- “The Elks Theater has been there for years, long before I moved to the town and even
before I was born. I think for that reason, it has to developed to be an integral part of the
community; a landmark and a gathering place for the locals. Without it, Middletown has
lost part of its identity.” - Sawyer N., townsperson
- MICDA failed to follow through on a state-awarded grant in November 2016, losing
$500,000 of public funds to renovate the theater. Furthermore, they refuse to
communicate with Friends of the Elks (it has been one year since the non-profits’ initial
proposal to buy) and yet fail to address the Elks’ situation at their bi-weekly meetings.
- Friends of the Elks has a proven track record of fundraising capability for the theater.
They are responsible for the $300,000 grant that was used to replace the theater roof,
repair external deficiencies in the masonry, and replace the building’s HVAC system.
They have already identified at least six potential grants for the refurbishment of the
theater.
- The Colonial Theater in Phoenixville, PA followed a near-identical plan as the one
proposed by Friends of the Elks and has since found much economic and cultural
success.

Part II. Advocacy Campaign Materials

- Newspaper article for The Press & Journal

- Flyer
APRIL 20, 2018 S. NEELY

IN OTHER
NEWS

PUBLICATION MR. MIDDLETOWN THREE MILE ISLAND NEW COFFEE SHOP

RELEVANT ONE WEEK $18,000 RAISED FOR UPDATES & ANNUAL DOWNTOWN
FROM PRINT CANCER RESEARCH REPORT THE NUCLEAR BEAN

COMMUNITY

The Elks Theater is approaching

two years of closure with no action
by the Borough of Middletown.

The Elks Theater of Middletown, MICDA has shown

itself to be
the second-oldest continuously running theater in the United States, has been
incompetent and
closed since April 2015. Its current owner, the Middletown Industrial and
Commercial Development Authority (MICDA), has shown itself to be unwilling….
incompetent and unwilling to take the necessary steps towards the re-opening [making] no
of this valuable piece of the Middletown community. Originally closed due to movement to
structural deficiencies and fire safety concerns, the Borough has made no improve the theater

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APRIL 20, 2018 S. NEELY

movement to improve the theater past its first stage of

renovations.
The Elks Theater
Most notably, MICDA failed to follow through on a state-
awarded grant in November 2016, losing $500,000 of
is a rich piece of
public funds to renovate the theater. Middletown had been our town’s history
awarded money through the Pennsylvania Redevelopment
Assistance Capital Program, a grant designed for projects that
have cultural, civic, historical, and regional impact while
generating substantial increases in employment, tax revenue, and
other measures of economic activity for the community. The
Borough neglected to notify the state of their intentions
within the requisite thirty days of the award letter. They made no
effort to meet the one stipulation of the award - to match
the grant money with other forms of funding. No fundraising
entity was started although public interest was (and remains) at
an unprecedented level.

Unfortunately, MICDA continues to show its inability to take care

of the Elks through its members’ indecisiveness. The authority
offered to transfer the theater to the 501(c)(3) organization
Friends of the Elks for a fee of $1.00 in early 2017. This non-
profit, committed to turning the historic movie house into a
theater/performing arts center, submitted their letter of intent to
buy the property in March 2017. Despite the previous agreement,
Friends of the Elks has still not received a response from
the Borough. In fact, Middletown Councilor Ian Reddinger (on the
Board of MICDA) recently told a community publication that he
would like to know what the market would be willing to pay for the
theater. This statement not only shows the uncommitted nature of
the Borough to the preservation of the Elks, it also shows a lack of
situational awareness - no entity, private or public, has
expressed interest in the property aside from Friends of
the Elks.

The Borough has further publicly confessed to putting the Elks on

the backburner, stating that the Board was focused on selling the
only other remaining piece of real estate that it owns: the McNair
House on Emaus and Union Streets. However, this sale was and yet the Middletown
completed in December 2018 to private owners. In the four Borough has yet to
months since, MICDA has yet to address the Elks situation. In address the situation of
their most recent meeting on April 17, 2018, their agenda the theater. While they
seemed to include everything BUT discussion of the Elks
hesitate, the Elks falls
- instead focusing on approval of bills, a human relations
further into disrepair.
commission, and the traffic signal on Main Street. Their next
meeting on May 1 does not show much more promise.

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APRIL 20, 2018 S. NEELY

Ultimately, the Borough has time and again

proved that they are not committed to the Elks Theater. While they continue to hesitate, the theater
falls into greater disrepair and renovation costs climb from the original $1.1 million
estimate that was provided by a construction firm in 2016. Furthermore, the people of Middletown
remain financially responsible for the theater and higher taxes are brought upon the community
without anything being shown for these contributions.

The option in the best interest of the theater is to transfer its possession and care to
Friends of the Elks. Friends of the Elks has a proven track record of fundraising capability
for the theater. They are responsible for the $300,000 grant that was used to replace the theater roof,
repair external deficiencies in the masonry, and replace the building’s HVAC system. In addition,
they have garnered corporate gifts from Giant Foods as well as Exelon. Friends of the Elks thus not
only has the ability to amass the money needed for the full renovation of the theater, they also have
the desire to do so. They have already identified at least six different grant-awarding
entities for capital improvements, including the George Frey Trust, a Middletown-based
philanthropic organization who has previously expressed interest in providing funding for
improvements to the theater.

In their proposal to MICDA, Friends of the Elks further outlined their plans for the theater’s future.
While the theater would remain first and foremost a movie theater, showing a continuous schedule of
first-run films, the space would be expanded and modified to accommodate live performances,
lecture series, and other such events. This would fill a crucial need in the community - there is
currently no venue capable of staging/hosting these types of events. For instance, the performances
of the Olmstead Players, the local theater group of Middletown, have been held at the Middletown
American Legion, the First Church of God, and the Middletown & Hummelstown Railroad. While
these venues have graciously extended the use of their spaces, the performances of the Olmstead
Players are suited for a stage - one which the Elks Theater could provide in the near future.

Fortunately, similar models to the one proposed by

Friends of the Elks have found success in other, The Colonial Theater
small-community theaters. One of the best examples in Phoenixville, PA
is a historical theater not too far from Middletown - the
Colonial Theater in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania. The
Colonial has been owned and operated by the non-profit
Association for the Colonial Theater since 1999, when it
bought the theater from the Phoenixville Area Economic
Development Corporation. Since renovations were
completed, the theater has thrived. It regularly holds art
shows, independent films, first-showing movies, classic
talkies, programs for younger audiences, live concerts,
and other community events. All of these events have
culminated in economic and cultural prosperity not
only for the theater, but also for the broader
region.

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APRIL 20, 2018 S. NEELY

Under the care of a non-profit organization, the Colonial Theater found success as a movie-house and
live-entertainment venue. If Friends of the Elks were responsible for the Elks Theater, the theater
could one-day hold a similar place of value in the Middletown community.

In consideration of all these factors, the necessary course of action is clear. MICDA needs to
honor their previous agreement of selling the theater to Friends of the Elks, and in so
doing, allow for its refurbishment and reopening. For the cultural, historic, entertainment,
and economic impact that the renovated theater will have on Middletown, its people need to ensure
that the Elks legacy lives on for generations to come. The time is now - the next meeting of MICDA is
to occur on May 1, 2018 from 7 to 8 PM at the Borough Hall. Citizens of Middletown, the Elks
Theater embodies our home more than any other venue in the town we share. Join me in advocating
for a unique, unparalleled, and treasured piece of our history. Join me for the Elks.

WHAT: Middletown Borough Council Meeting

WHEN: May 1, 2018 from 7-8 PM

WHERE: Council Chambers (2nd Floor of Borough Hall)

60 West Emaus Street Middletown, PA 17057

WHY: Support Friends of the Elks in their intention to purchase the Elks Theater

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THE ELKS NEEDS YOU

WHAT: Middletown Borough Council Meeting

COUNCIL WHEN: May 1, 2018 from 7-8 PM

WHERE: 60 West Emaus Street Middletown, PA

MEETING WHY: Support Friends of the Elks in their intention
to purchase the Elks Theater

5/1/18 FOR MORE INFORMATION

VISIT SAVETHEELKS.COM OR
CONTACT (717) 379-2657