Rrtheater.org
Title
Ross Ragland Theater & Cultural Center
Description
Theater History
It was a broad-based Klamath Basin community effort that turned the 1939 art deco styled Esquire Theater into a state-of-the-art performing arts center. The completion of The Ross Ragland heralded the renovation of the Klamath Falls downtown area, encouraged the use of renewable energy by extending the city's geothermal line and, above all, revived community through the universal language of the arts. Today, The Ross Ragland Theater and Cultural Center serves, educates and inspires over 100,000 individuals annually.
The Ross Ragland Theater is the only year-round, multi-cultural, multi-disciplinary arts center in South Central Oregon and Northern California. The theater, with near-perfect sight lines and acoustics, provides the perfect venue for large Broadway shows, symphony orchestras,
When the Ross Ragland Theater opened its doors in March of 1989 with a local production of The Music Man, it represented a culmination of community vision and dedication to advance the arts. Plans for a Klamath Falls Civic Center were first formulated in the late 1970s with fundraising efforts beginning in 1983. Hundreds of volunteers, led by Jean Pinninger and Joan Staunton, worked tirelessly to raise funds for the renovation. The project came dangerously close to failure when the owners of the Esquire Theater decided to demolish the building. The Ladies Community Lounge League stepped forward, purchasing and donating the building in exchange for a permanent home in a portion of the renovated space. Renovation of the facility began in 1987.
Contact
- Ross Ragland Theater
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- Klamath Falls OR
- United States 97601
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- +1.5418840651
