The Lompoc Theatre Project recruited a few famous faces to fundraise for a renovation. They hosted a telethon Friday night with locals and a few celebrities to raise funds for a new roof at the Lompoc Theatre.
Executive Director and actor Mark Herrier described the landmark. “It’s right in the heart of Lompoc and it was, until it was closed, the heart, the beating heart of Lompoc.”
The Lompoc Theatre closed in 1998 and four organizations have since tried to renovate it, but the Lompoc Theatre Project is the group who is breaking ground and bringing new life to the landmark. They have hired a new architect and will refurbish the interior and exterior as soon as possible.
Herrier said, “I was inspired by this theatre. I got to be an actor because of a movie I saw in this theatre and there’ll be people on tonight who will have had similar experiences.”
Herrier is an actor who performed on Broadway and in TV shows like Bosch.
On Friday, he brought some local Lompoc talent and famous friends to perform and bring awareness to the cause.
Local talent exhibited their acts throughout the telethon. Herrier’s friends like Julia Louis Dreyfus, Tom Bergeron and Jeffrey Combs joined in.
Their goal Friday night was to raise $50,000 for a new roof and to hit a threshold for performing arts grants.
“As soon as we get the money, we have already started the process. We have cleaned out a lot of toxic pigeon refuge and mold and mildew and asbestos, we have tenants in the office building part of the theatre for the first time in 30 years,” Herrier said.
The theatre was built in 1927 and the Lompoc Theatre Project bought the property five years ago.
Lompoc native and Star Trek actor Jeffrey Combs joined in on the fun because of the memories he had there when he was a kid.
During the telethon, Combs said, “That theatre means so much to me. It is at the center of my time at Lompoc and comfort.”
The group raised more than $23,000 Friday night, which will add to the $300,000 the project has raised since purchasing the property.
