Photo courtesy of Dan Jamison This past Tuesday, the new boiler pieces arrived that Calumet Theatre building and placed in the furnace room. The project is expected to be completed around the end of this month.

CALUMET — The project of installing a new heating plant in the Calumet Theatre building took several strides in the past couple of weeks, with an estimated completion date now in sight. The old boiler, visible in the photograph,

At the Annual Calumet Theatre Company Members’ meeting on Sept. 23, Dan Jamison, company president, announced that he had received approval from SHPO (State Historic Preservation Office) to enter into a contract with Marty Trevathan, of Hancock, to order and install the boiler and equipment.

Marty Trevathan, of Hancock, who was awarded the contract, received payment last week to order the boiler and equipment.

In August 2023, the Michigan Economic Development Corporation announced that the village, in partnership with the Calumet Theatre Company, was to receive a grant to rehabilitate the heating system of the Calumet Theatre and Village Hall, which has been without adequate heat for several years. At the time of the announcement, Village Manager Megan Haselden had said that with funding from SHPO, they will be able to restore the heating system to the entire building, allowing them to gather the community for more cultural events throughout the year, and will be a catalyst for the ongoing restoration and rehabilitation of this historic building.

This past Tuesday, October 1, the boiler and equipment arrived at the back door of the theater, where it the parts were placed on the stage, then lowered into the basement. A trap door opens into the dressing rooms beneath the stage. It was through the trap door that the furnace and its parts were lowered into the basement, then carried into the furnace room.

It should take approximately two weeks to disassemble the old unit and assemble the new one, Jamison said, then conduct hydrostatic testing on the

“I think the thing that’s going to take time is going through the theater to determine what has been damaged over the past 20 years,” said Jamison, “inspecting the radiators and pipes and stuff like that.”

Barring any unforeseen circumstances of sudden surprises, Jamison said the project should be completed before the end of this month. The total cost of the project, said Jamison, will total $57,000. The majority of that has come in the form of CLG reimbursement.