By Paige Desorbo
Staff Writer
The Steamer 10 Theatre, or what some would describe as the unfinished castle on Madison, may not be lacking its grand entrance for much longer. The 120-seat theater is having its opening weekend of Theater Voices, a fully staged reading of “A Doll’s House,” starting this weekend, February 13, with free admission. This production is geared toward adults. All other show’s admission is $15, and vacation week for children’s shows is coming up on February 16.
The Theatre’s entrance has been in disrepair for more than ten years, and hopes to begin fundraising to fix the city-owned building. Productions continue and the ongoing construction does not deter actors or patrons.
The founder and executive director of all the productions, Ric Chesser produces over 130 shows a year.
“I try and make everything work,” Chesser said. Chesser started the Theatre because he was always looking for things that were appropriate to take his 2-year-old daughter to. “I realized I could do this,” said Chesser, who has a degree in theater from Goddard College in Vermont.
Steamer 10 has a variety of children who participate from school all over the capital region. Cleis Hahn, 12, of Hackett Middle School has been acting at the Theatre for six years.
“I really hope to one day be on Broadway. It’s my dream,” Hahn said. She and her mother, Akum Norder, are both residents of the Pine Hills. Norder said, “Beautiful old buildings like Steamer 10 give Albany its identity.” She hopes The Steamer 10 will be repaired soon, because she and her daughter love the productions, and most of all the people.
The refurbished firehouse has been operating for 24 years. Originally, it was Fire House Number 10, which has been moved to the corner of Brevator Street and Washington Avenue. The building is attached to the Albany Police Department at 500 Western Ave. Chesser rents the theater from the city of Albany, who owns the property. The Theatre pays $1a year to the city in rent, but the City owns any improvements that Steamer 10 makes. That has averaged to $20,000 a year over 24 years.
The exterior of the theatre has been in disrepair for more than 10 years. The entrance of the theater, which resembles a castle entrance, was never finished. Steamer 10 has run into many obstacles while trying to repair the front entrance. The Theatre raised $150,000 that they thought was enough to complete the project. However, they ran into delays- a fuel tank that was buried underground needed an environmental cleanup, which set back the construction a year. The city paid for the tank to be removed in 2005. On top of the cleanup, the contractor was diagnosed with cancer during the project. They lost time and the money they had raised.
When asked, Keith McDonald of the Albany department of assessment and taxation, said, “There are no taxes on the building because it is owned by the city.” The Department of Building and Codes declined to provide information about the status of code at the property, and required the Pine Hills blog to file a request for that information under the Freedom of Information Law. A request was filed regarding the property and any code violations.
The Theatre is trying to come up with ways to raise money for their “Finish the Castle” Campaign.
“It is our responsibility to fix it, because we are renting it from the city, but they own it,” Chesser said. Nothing is set in stone as of now for the fundraiser, but the Theatre is working hard to finish the last of their castle. All ticket and concession sales go to running the Theatre, and it costs $200,000 a year to run Steamer 10. Chesser thinks $300,000 will be enough to fix the front entrance, and has hopes of starting the fundraising soon.
Everyone wants the front entrance fixed, but seems that everyone has become used to the eyesore. Fundraising is a must to reach their goal of $300,000. “If wishes built buildings, that castle would be ten stories tall,” Norder said.
