Iowa City Community Theatre leaving longtime home at Johnson County Fairgrounds after current season

The Iowa City Community Theatre will no longer have a home at the Johnson County Fairgrounds after the completion of its current season next spring.

The nonprofit theater announced the news on its website in late September, stating that the theater is losing its space at the fairgrounds. Building A, also known as The Barn, has been the theater’s home for the “last 60 years.”

Nick Rudzianski, Iowa City Community Theatre treasurer, told the Press-Citizen that the news was not a surprise.

The Johnson County Agricultural Association had informed the theater years in advance that it planned to build a new facility that would encompass the land and building the theater currently uses, Rudzianski said.

Heather Johnson of the Johnson County Agricultural Association told the Press-Citizen that ICCT was provided notice about this two years ago.

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The agricultural association is building a new events center, one of the “large goals” it's trying to reach at the fairgrounds, she said.

When Montgomery Hall — one of the buildings at the fairgrounds — was assessed, the cost to fix it was more than what it was worth. Johnson said Montgomery Hall had “sustained a lot of damage due to flooding.”

Building A, formerly the home of ICCT, is “aged” like other properties at the fairgrounds. The Johnson County Agricultural Association had to determine whether it would be worth renovating, or putting up a new building, Johnson said. It opted for the latter.

Johnson said the association hopes to break ground next year on a 14,400-square-foot events center, at a cost of $2.5 million to $3.5 million.

Opting to go for the latter, the two buildings and its land will eventually become a new 14,400 square foot event center.

Johnson said they hope to break ground next year.

When complete, the space can be used for recreational activities including family reunions, wedding receptions, seminars and trainings for local businesses, and for refuge in emergency situations, Johnson said.

“Part of the way that we generate funding for the fairgrounds to operate is by renting out our spaces on the fairground, whether that be barns for winter storage, whether that be something like Building A to ICCT. But we really feel that we could reach our goals better if we have something newer and bigger that we could offer a better and bigger space to the community to use for different things,” she said.

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Rudzianski said the new events center is not set up to be a theater space, or at least one that would fit what ICCT is looking for. Also, seeing as the agricultural association plans to have it booked throughout the year with other types of events, it wouldn’t fit ICCT’s scheduling needs.

The ICCT board is searching for a permanent space for the theater in the Iowa City area, but declined to share more details at this time.

That space would not only be for ICCT but for other theaters without a permanent home or groups seeking a place to host a performance or gathering, he said.

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In the short term, Rudzianski has reached out to theaters and events spaces in the Iowa City area to see who can house ICCT's productions after the current season, and possibly into 2024.

“I'm very happy that everyone we've spoken to really seemed interested in wanting to help us,” he said. “They are actively trying to find ways to make it so we can succeed in their spaces.”

While it’s too early to say where ICCT productions will be housed in the coming years, Rudzianski said it’ll probably be multiple venues, depending on the needs of the show.

Community theater dates to 1956; treasurer says it's excited about next chapter

The all-volunteer theater was established in 1956.

In the early 1960s, ICCT began utilizing the space at the Johnson County Fairgrounds, Rudzianski said.

The ICCT treasurer said the theater has been lucky to have had a home for so long, calling the agricultural association “generous and helpful” to the theater, including during the pandemic when the association didn’t charge the theater rent.

The theater’s longtime history at the Johnson County Fairgrounds has meant that for some, this change comes with concern. It also means that ICCT hasn’t dealt with finding a new home before, something that’s a “bit of a learning process,” according to Rudzianski.

He added the theater is excited about how it's going to move forward.

Rudzianski said ICCT will be “just fine" so long as the theater finds support from the community, whether that be through donations or by people attending a production.

“It's just a matter of us making sure that we're up front and we're telling people what's going on and that we let people know and make sure people know that this isn’t Iowa City Community Theatre going away, it's just us going into the next phase of our existence,” he said.

Paris Barraza covers entertainment, lifestyle and arts at the Iowa City Press-Citizen. Reach her at PBarraza@press-citizen.com or (319) 519-9731. Follow her on Twitter @ParisBarraza.