REEDLEY – The historic Reedley Opera House will be given new life thanks to assistance from the T-Mobile Hometown Grant.
The city of Reedley is one of 25 new recipients of the Hometown Grant, and is the only California city awarded from this round of funding. The money will be put toward renovating the opera house’s aging stage, in hopes of expanding access to the arts and transforming the building into a cultural and community hub.
“The opera house is a staple of downtown and the city recognizes that it’s an important part of the community,” said Sarah Reid, community services director for the city of Reedley. “So as we own the building and take responsibility for keeping it alive and functioning, we also have the responsibility to make sure we’re continuing to invest in it.”
The opera house was built in 1903, and although it has served the River City Theatre Company (RCTC) and other patrons for years, it’s begun to show weak points over time. According to Reid, RCTC members have had to limit their ability to do certain shows based on the condition and stability of the stage.
With this in mind, the city applied for the grant specifically to fix up the opera house, and was granted nearly $50,000 to put toward the renovation. The city and local contractor Copeland Olson Construction will both be splitting the remaining costs to give all the funds needed to bring the project to life.
“We couldn’t have done this without T-Mobile and without this contractor coming alongside us, because there’s so many projects going on and so much money that goes into them, so we’re just grateful to get it done,” Reid said.
The city is still in the process of ordering materials and working around the opera house’s scheduling, but Reid hopes to have the renovation completed within one to two weeks by the end of the calendar year.
In the meantime, RCTC will be hosting an open house to give community members the opportunity to get a sneak peek of the upcoming “Fiddler on the Roof” production, meet with city officials and give input on the 2026 show lineup.
The open house will take place within the Reedley Opera House tomorrow on June 24, from 5:30-6:30 p.m.
The Hometown Grant is a collaborative effort between phone service provider T-Mobile and non-profit organization Main Street America. This most recent batch of recipients marks 400 communities touched and nearly $18 million donated.
“Having a community town grant like this that recognizes the importance of the arts and is able to provide us the funding we need to redo the stage is really gonna keep the building running,” Reid said.
