$3 million theater coming to St. Clair

A nonprofit is raising funds to build an estimated $3 million theater in St. Clair.

The Riverbank Theatre organization started as the Snug Theatre and Riverbank Theatre in Marine City, which were owned by Kathy and Tom Vertin before being converted to a nonprofit in 2015. 

Now the organization plans to expand its footprint with the St. Clair theater.

Kathy Vertin, the nonprofit’s executive director, said they are still working on a name and an address, but the 12,000-square-feet, 350-seat performing arts venue will be at the southwest corner of the Riverview Plaza’s parking lot.

“I really do think this is a good move for the region,” she said.

She and her husband own the Inn on Water Street in Marine City and opened Snug Theatre in July 2013 and Riverbank Theatre in 2014. In 2019 they sold 20,000 tickets, so that’s 20,000 potential dinners and other impacts in the area, she said.

“It’s been the economic driver I hoped it’d be,” Vertin said.

She hopes to break ground for the new theater this fall and have a Christmas production in 2022. Productions will range from musicals to concerts, comedians and guest speakers.

Riverbank Theatre has raised nearly two-thirds of the theater’s funding, with a $1 million challenge grant awarded by the Franklin H. and Nancy S. Moore Foundation last year, securing $500,000 from the Community Foundation of St. Clair County and roughly $300,000 from private donors. The Riverbank Theatre will host a series of fundraising activities to close the gap.

Patrick Coughlin, owner of Coughlin Jewelers in St. Clair and St. Clair Rotary Club chairman, said he and his wife always get dinner or drinks when they go to a play and he thinks people will do the same in St. Clair.

“It’s going to be a really good asset for downtown,” he said.

He said people have been concerned about parking in the area, but Community Foundation of St. Clair County President Randy Maiers said there are plans to redo the plaza's parking lot to better accommodate the new theater, the St. Clair Inn and plaza businesses.

He said there are a little over 500 spots currently and the goal is to have just over 600 spots when done. The project will probably start in spring 2022.

Maiers said donors have pledged a significant amount of money to the St. Clair theater project because they appreciate what live theater can bring to a city like St. Clair, which can hopefully earn the success Marine City has had with its theaters.

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Vertin said St. Clair welcomed the nonprofit’s mobile stage in Palmer Park and they found people would head to the plaza for dinner and drinks after shows.

She said they chose to build the theater in St. Clair because it has close proximity to the Marine City locations and it’s easy to get to off the expressway.

In the future they’d like to expand to other cities and she likes the idea of dotting the region with arts and attractions. People can come to St. Clair, Marine City, Port Huron, then drive the coast and see everything it has to offer.

“I want to see the whole region thrive,” she said.

People can find out more about Riverbank Theatre on its Facebook page, website, can subscribe to its newsletter and can call (810) 278-1749. People can donate to the new theater through its new venue capital fund online.

Contact Bryce Airgood at (810) 989-6202 or bairgood@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @bairgood123.