Gem Theatre Stage Completion

For thirteen years, the little community of Athena in Northeast Oregon  has been renovating it's historic 1901 main street theatre into a regional arts facility.  The project has been spearheaded by the local school band director and has included several hundred school age volunteers who together have donated over $400K in labor.  With this plus a multitude of grants, the "little theatre non profit that could" has brought the campaign to the last big financial hurdle, that being the stage gear and tech--the total cost of which is $210,000.00.


The Gem Theatre will include a fully functional stage, much like a Broadway theatre only scaled down and will serve as a platform for music, live theatre and film in a region notably underserved by the arts.  Please help us reach the goal of finishing the stage, thus giving us the ability to open the facility during the second week of June, 2019.

The Star Saloon will also become the home for the planned Hodaka Museum. Hodakas were a small brand of motorcycle that was headquartered in Athena in the 70's. The Pacific Basin Trading Company designed and imported the motorcycles from Japan and enjoyed commercial success until hit with the recession in the early 80's. The Hodaka Club  has assisted with the theater/museum project by donations and proceeds from raffled restored Hodaka motorcycles!

You can find out more about our project on our website at www.gemtheatre.org . You can also  sign up to purchase an engraved paver for the sidewalk out front!

Thanks for taking the time to consider the creation of our little project in Northeastern Oregon!