ABOVE: The interior of the Fairmont Opera House has remained largely unchanged since December 2023 when scaffolding and trusses were put in to support the roof while money is raised to fund the needed repairs. Sentinel file photo.

FAIRMONT– With a year-ed deadline to raise $4 million for building repairs, the Fairmont Opera House (FOH) is exploring all funding options. Currently it has a matching donation in play and several requests out for both state and federal funding.

In December 2023 the Opera House announced it would be closed for all of 2024 as it waits for needed repairs on its roof. In July 2024, the Opera House launched a capital campaign to raise the funds needed for the repairs.

While the historic building cannot house any performances or spectators right now, the organization has been able to utilize other venues to host events, all of which serve as a fundraiser for it.

Katelyn Langwith, Communications Coordinator for the Opera House, said even through they’re not holding performances like they used to every other weekend, they’ve still been busy.

In fact, at a recently well-attended Mankato Symphony Orchestra performance, held at Grace Lutheran Church, a $25,000 matching donation in memory of Dennis Turner was announced. Turner had put in a lot of work in a previous capital campaign that went from 1980 to around 1995.

“They were able to do work in phases at that time because a lot of it wasn’t structural,” Langwith said, adding that that was the last major aesthetic renovation that the Opera House had.

While they had the pledge from Turner’s estate for awhile, Langwith said they reached out to see if the donor was interested in turning it into matching funds to encourage some more donations.

The matching donation is active and does not have an end date.

Opera House staff has also recently applied for its second round of state and federal funding.

“We were able to tell our story last year and get people interested and we’re hopeful that this year, the second time around, now that people understand the position we’re in, it will hopefully push them to understand the gravity,” Langwith said.

Executive Director Blake Potthoff said he’s been working closely with State Representative Bjorn Olson, who is on the Legacy Committee.

“That’s a place where we can get funding to make a significant impact on this project,” Potthoff said.

He pointed out that legacy money supports all Minnesotans through arts, culture and entertainment and that a lot of it goes to the Minnesota State Arts Board, the Historical Society and then conservation projects as the fund also supports clean water.

Potthoff said there are letters of advocacy that people can sign, which is critical because it’s Minnesota taxpayer money that will help fund the project.

“It won’t be as impactful if it’s just the Opera House saying, ‘Help us, we need money.’ It would be incredibly beneficial for readers of the Sentinel to say, ‘No, this is important for Fairmont. This is important for Martin County and us in Southern Minnesota to have the Opera House,'” Potthoff said.

There’s also a request in for the fiscal year 2026 Community Facilities Project appropriation through Congressman Brad Finstad’s office.

“That one is for community facilities like the Fairmont Opera House,” Potthoff said. “He’s (Finstad) concerned about Minnesota Congressional District 1 which he represents so we need as many people as possible to say, ‘This is important to Southern Minnesota.'”

Potthoff believes they may not hear if that request has advanced until June or July.

Finally, there’s an application Potthoff is working on to turn into Senator Amy Klobuchar’s office for the Congressional Directed Spending appropriations.

“We would hear if that’s going to the committee in the same June or July timeline and the money could come up for both of those as early as the start of the fiscal year 2026, which wold be Oct 1, 2025,” Potthoff explained.

Staff and board members have not been sitting idle while they wait to hear about these funds, but they also can’t proceed with much until some more money come through.

Board member Kristy Olson said, “We’ve heard feedback from the community that they want to hear we’re doing. The big thing the community needs to know is we cannot start construction.”

“The building will sit in the state that it has been since the shoring went in which was not this past December, but December 2023,” Langwith added.

The December 2025 deadline is set so that the Opera House does not burn through all of its cash reserves. While there’s the significant money needed for the repairs, the Opera House still has ongoing maintenance to pay on the building, as well as insurance and rent on the equipment that’s currently holding up the Opera House’s roof.

“We’re not approaching critical mass yet, but everyday that goes past it gets closer and closer,” Potthoff said. “At board level and staff level we have not had any conversations about what the end of this organization’s life looks like yet. We’re still incredibly optimistic that we’re going to make this happen.”

However, they’re still aware that the deadline is quickly approaching with about eight months to go. To date the Opera House has around $600,000 in donations and pledges.

They’re happy with that money because since the capital campaign launched in July, Potthoff said it’s the largest amount of money the organization has raised in that timeframe in its history.

“The community has been really helpful and supportive, we just need a cash infusion of something significant to make it feel like all the money we’ve raised already wasn’t for nothing. That’s where the state and federal government can come in and help us,” Potthoff said.

Those who want to support the Opera House can sign one or all of the letters in support of funding on the Opera House’s website at fairmontoperahouse.org/take-action.

Langwith encourages anyone in the community who has questions to reach out to them.

“Ask me a question on Facebook or email me or give me a call. I’m always happy to answer a question,” Langwith said.

Olson pointed out that the Opera House staff is holding office hours in their temporary office, Behind the Scenes, near the Opera House building on Blue Earth Avenue.