PHOTOS BY BARBARA BRANNON, KAY ELLINGTON AND JEFF STURGIS
It’s about to be showtime again at Spur’s Palace Theater—for live shows, that is.
Since the giant movie screen was installed in 2016, the theater’s organizers, the Dickens County Historical Commission, have focused on film. The fixed screen didn’t leave much stage area for bands, discussions, monologues, pageants, talent shows, or the like.
But a $5,000 grant from the Community Foundation of West Texas is making those types of presentations possible once again.
DCHC member Jeff Sturgis and former chair Harry Bob Martin came up with the ingenious plan over numerous chats and dinner evenings with their families and friends. Sturgis, a videographer and film producer—who also has considerable construction skills—turned the paper plan into an animated presentation that impressed the Community Foundation. If the screen — mounted on a heavy, fixed steel frame that was set back only a few feet from the front of the stage — could be engineered to move, then the stage, wings, and green room could be put back into full use.
Once the grant was awarded last December, it remained to figure out how to put the specifics in place. A welding contractor, Lopez Welding and Construction, completed the project last week.
Sturgis said he’d initially imagined the approximately 26’-by-14’ screen would be remounted from the ceiling rafters to move back and forth on a barn door–type track. Lopez and his crew suggested instead that the track be mounted to the stage floor, bearing the weight of the screen on heavy-duty casters while at the same time being anchored to the rafters for stability. The solution, thanks to the strength of the previous design by Clint Martin, worked beautifully and was complete by the end of the day.
The movie screen can now be used as a live-show backdrop if desired. For feature films, the screen can be unlocked and moved forward on the track, by just two people.
Sturgis expressed thanks to those, including Spur Hardware, who loaned and delivered scaffolding units for the project.
The DCHC met later that day and immediately began brainstorming plans. The names of several country, Western swing and gospel groups came to mind, as well as solo presenters and community productions.
What are your favorite acts or events you’d like to see at the Palace? Email PalaceSpur1929@gmail.com with your suggestions, connections and wish list.
