Consumers Energy Awards State Theatre Major Funding - Northern Michigan's News Leader

A major boost tonight for the effort to restore a centerpiece of Downtown Traverse City.

The State Theater is nearing the end of it's renovation, spearheaded by filmmaker Michael Moore.

The Consumer's Energy Foundation awarded the project serious funds, to finish the outside of the theater's historic face.

There is still much work to be done before the project is finished, but the $125,000 grant tonight gives the State Theater the opportunity to turn on a set of lights that have been dark for who knows how long.

The porcelain facade of the State Theater in Traverse City sat in shadows for decades.

The grant is part of Consumer's Energy's 125th Birthday Celebration.

They have spent $1.2 Million on several projects like this.

They asked ten communities in Michigan that have significant ties to Consumer's Energy, what the area needs.

They are an energy company, so the State Theater asked Consumer's Energy to turn the lights back on.

Tonight, the theater is one step closer to transporting us right back to the night is opened...64 years ago.

As Michael Moore and his group finish up the revitalization of the State Theater, they hope to have the same amount of success renovating the Vogue Theater, in Manistee.