Photo cutlines from left to right: Capri theatre from July 28, 2014. Facade work on the front of the theatre from 2012. Inside
the Capitol theatre from November 2013. Exterior of the theatres in 2014. Outside the theatres when RAGBRAI event came
to Ottumwa in 2016.
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dles.” “It was packed. That whole place was
just howling,” said Myers Naumann.
But modern times meant changes for the
downtown theaters. The Ottumwa was transformed
into a four-plex and renamed the Capri
in the 1970s, according to the Artspace
report, with the Capitol was converted into
a fifth screen for the theater, leading to the
name Capri V.
Then, in 2005, the screens went dark and the
theaters stood empty.
“They closed because they built the new
one,” said Myers Naumann, referring to the
Ottumwa 8 theater. “I think that they closed
for the same reason that businesses downtown
closed, and that was everything was
moving over to the mall.
“I think it’s that combination of they created
the shopping malls, everybody drives everywhere
and there’s space and you can expand,
and that’s simply what happened,” she said.
“In my mind … I think that when you lose
your movie theaters and your banks, downtowns
start having a real serious problem
because those are two things that brought
people downtown.”
Myers Naumann said she doesn’t remember
a lot of public outcry when the theaters
closed. “Some people lamented the loss,”
she said. “But I don’t think there was any
outcry. I don’t think people complained a
lot. When you’re going to have something all
brand new and spiffy [with eight screens],
that’s something you get excited about rather
than lamenting the theaters here.
“I think they were probably seen as old and
people were happy to see them replaced.”
After sitting empty for a while, movement
was seen around the downtown theaters
again. In 2007, then-owner Bret Geiger
stripped off the aluminum facade of the
Capri to reveal the original architecture.
“That was kind of strange to me that people
who lived here all their life didn’t really remember
what it looked like. People were just
in awe of what it looked like,” he said at the
time. “People remember going to the movies
way back when. We had a lot of positive
responses to uncovering the theater.”
Five years later, Ottumwa Regional Legacy
Foundation purchased the theater. “We felt
it was an important part of Ottumwa,” said
Brad Little, ORLF CEO at the time, adding
that there aren’t too many residents who
Dwayne J. Patritto,
DDS, MS, PLC
727 E. Pennsylvania
Ottumwa, IA
52501
(641)682-8143
don’t have some sort of connection to the
theater. The foundation immediately started
repairs on the building, with some of the
most notable issues being interior damage, a
leaky roof and electrical issues, according to
a November 2012 Courier article.
A few months later, a committee was organized
to explore options for potential use of
the theaters, the River’s Edge Arts and Culture
Center Team (REACT). Their role was
to offer insight on facility design features
and create and define a sustainable business
plan for the Capri and Capitol. “Our goal is
to restore these former landmarks to their
rightful place as a community gathering
place focused on arts and culture,” said Little
in February 2013. That fall, they brought
Artspace in to lead focus groups, tours and
meetings to form the feasibility study that
was published the following January.
When Artspace arrived in the fall of 2013,
50 dumpsters of trash had been hauled out of
the buildings and the four-screen layout of
the Capri had been reverted to a one-screen
theater area.
Town halls, surveys and tours followed over
the next several months, and the Artspace
110 N. E Street
Oskaloosa, IA
52577
(641)673-4120
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