Doug Sorrell

Miamisburg, Ohio, population 20,000, will be 200 years old in 2018.

Down on Main Street is the Plaza Theatre, which was opened on Christmas Day 1919 by the Weaver brothers. With the arrival of malls and interstates, and the decline of small downtowns, the Plaza was forced to close its doors. The last movie was shown in 1968.

Over the years, efforts to restore the building to use as a theatre showing movies failed. In the fall of 2014, a handful of volunteers chose this project as one worth their efforts and attention. With $600 on hand, they formed a committee with seven members and two donors.

Spearheading the Plaza Theatre project was a 65-year old, cancer patient – myself -€“ who volunteered to raise the money. I’ve been many things in life. At age 60, I became a full-time charity auctioneer, after a part-time career of auction work dating to 1979. I’ve raised millions of dollars doing hundreds of auctions for dozens of organizations.

On Christmas Day 2015, the newly rebuilt historic Plaza Theatre opened to the public with 285 seats, digital projection and Dolby surround sound, showing classic and older films with a $5 admission. The first movie was “Field of Dreams” because of the theme “if you build it, they will come.” Three of our volunteers are over 60 and our only full-time paid employee is 71.

The Plaza Theatre is likely my final full-time project. 2016 is probably my final year as an auctioneer. There are no tax dollars in this project, only private donations. Donors at the $10,000 level and up will have a star installed in the sidewalk outside. We are now above $452,000 and counting.

Over the years, when I’d speak to groups in my hometown, I’d always get the same answer. “You can do those things elsewhere, but this is Miamisburg. We can’t do that kind of thing here or raise that kind of money”.

I was determined to prove them wrong, give my hometown a sense of “Yes, we can.” And I wanted to do this while my health allowed me to do so.