ABOVE: The interior of the Fairmont Opera House has looked this way for over a year as fundraising is still happening in order to fund needed repairs.

FAIRMONT– The Fairmont Opera House (FOH) is deep in fundraising efforts and currently capitalizing off of early giving ahead of Give to the Max Day, which is Nov. 21.

In late July, the Opera House launched its fundraising campaign and at that time announced that $4 million was needed by the end of 2025 in order to make repairs essential to continuing operations. Since October of 2023, the Opera House has been closed to the public and the interior of the facility has been in a state of disarray.

However, while the building itself is out of commission, the Opera House staff and board members have been busy not only planning fundraising events and reaching out to potential donors, but planning and putting on programming for the community.

In early October the Opera House hosted a Gala that was held in the Martin County Courthouse. The formal event had 50 people in attendance and over the course of the evening more than $200,000 was raised.

Later in the month, the Opera House brought in A Moving Sound from Taiwan and the group performed at a number of locations around the community including Lakeview Methodist Health Care Center, Goldfinch Estates, Fairmont Elementary School, Fairmont Brewing Company and the Knights of Columbus.

Executive Director Blake Potthoff said they saw over 1,500 people over the course of that week who were able to experience a different culture as a result of the performances.

Right now, staff and board members are identifying other locations and acts for the future.

“We have a few performances in the spring, one in March at Grace Lutheran Church. Mankato Symphony Orchestra will be back, which we’re excited for. And in May of next year is our last Arts Midwest World Fest. A group from Jordan will be here for a week,” Potthoff said.

Of course, the bulk of time is spent fundraising. To date, roughly $529,000 has been donated or pledged.

Communications Coordinator Katelyn Langwith said that about $16,000 has been raised in early giving this month.

“Every day for the month of November up to Give to the Max Day they’ve been giving away prize grants that are pulled from any organization that’s registered for Give to the Max Day,” she explained.

Potthoff added that that the Opera House also has an active match– $50,000 two-to-one match– in play.

“That’s something that’s really generous that we want to promote. Someone gave us $50,000 to help leverage for more funding,” Potthoff said.

He said the hope is to raise $1 million by the end of this year in order to keep on fundraising track.

“That will set us up well to get another million in the first quarter of next year, another million in the second quarter to get us to the end of June… and that’s when we can start cashing in with reasonable certainty that we can raise the rest by the end of 2025,” Potthoff said.

However, he added with a laugh that they will gladly the bulk of the funds sooner. On a serious note, Potthoff explained that the Opera House is burning through its cash reserves with ongoing expenses.

“Our insurance went up because the building is unoccupied so property and liability insurance went up. We had to add builder’s risk insurance because there’s other people’s equipment in there and then the scaffolding that’s holding up the roof in there is $10,500 a month that we’re paying just to have it sit there,” Potthoff said.

That’s on top of paying the heat bill, staff wages and marketing efforts.

As for reaching people with its message, Potthoff said he think they’re doing a good job or getting word of the dire situation out there, but he also acknowledged that there are a lot of other causes out there, both locally and regionally.

“Give to the Max Day is fantastic but we’re one of thousands of people trying to raise money… they all deserve to raise their money to do their programming, fix their buildings or whatever. In that, it’s hard not to get lost sometimes,” Potthoff admitted.

The Opera House has a mailing that goes out to local people but Potthoff said it’s been difficult to reach a more regional audience so right now they’re trying to focus on local fundraising.

However, that’s not to say they’re not reaching out to whoever they can. In fact, a representative from Senator Tina Smith’s office has toured the facility, as well as Congressman Brad Finstad and Representative Bjorn Olson.

Langwith said that a lot of the donors have given to them in the past and she sees that they’ve given extra this time, which is appreciated.

“I also want to make sure that people know that if you don’t raise your gift this year, you might not get another chance to,” Langwith said.

Board Member Jane Reiman said they appreciate donations big and small as every dime, nickel and penny is needed to help keep them in operation.

Langwith agreed and said that people can also offer their talents.

“We were approached by a candle making company that wants to donate some of the proceeds to us for certain candle sales this year,” she said.

Fairmont Brewing Company last weekend also did a Pour It Forward event where an amount of the sales went to the Opera House. There are other instances of local businesses or individuals holding events that benefit the Opera House.

“It’s not just the physical dollars that they give us but the recognition within our community,” Langwith said.

“There’s a ton of ways that you can help. If you can’t give us $100,000, how can you help?” Potthoff said.

He pointed out that people can give something other than cash. Any assets that people are looking to get rid of can be donated.

“It’s not just money in your bank account. What things do you have that you don’t want that you want to get tax benefit on?” he said.

While the Opera House still has a long way to go in its fundraising effort, Potthoff said they remain optimistic.

“It can seem like you’re just throwing money into a black hole but we as an organization are confident that we’re going to do this,” he said. “We’re all committed to this place existing past the end of 2025. We’re going to do it. We just need people to help us get there and to believe it, too.”