In August 2013, after nearly a century of shows and screenings, the Hardacre went dark. What followed was a small town's long effort to buy it, protect it and bring it back.
"The rising costs of renting films as well as the prohibitive but necessary cost of upgrading to digital projection" made it no longer financially possible to keep the theater open, the Iowa Source reported in January 2014.
According to the 2015 nomination, the association and Rohrbach Associates set out to rehabilitate the Hardacre "as a cultural and community center for Tipton, Cedar County, and Eastern Iowa," with preserving and restoring the historic building as the main goal.
Continue as a cinema, with digital projection.
Live theater, traveling shows and music, as when the house opened in 1916.
A place for community gatherings and events.
“Pretty much the whole building, from the roof down to the basement.”
— Greg Brown, association board president, on the scope of the work (WVIK, 2016)
National Register listing makes the theater eligible for federal and state historic preservation grants and tax credits, two potentially major sources of money for the renovation.
Troy Peters founded the Hardacre Film Festival in 1997. Each August it filled the screen with independent films from around the world, and by 2016 it was being described as Iowa's longest-running film festival. After the theater closed, the festival was held at Tipton High School, with the hope of returning once the Hardacre reopens.
“They want it to be saved, the theatre is for them, the theatre is for our youth, the theatre is for our community.”
— Linda Beck, Tipton economic development director (KCRG, 2025)
This site is not the association. The Hardacre Theater Preservation Association is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit based in Tipton, Iowa. Its public tax filings are available from ProPublica's Nonprofit Explorer, and local news and events are listed by the City of Tipton.
The $114,000 total and the two anonymous gifts were reported by the Associated Press on January 29, 2014. Sources differ slightly on whether the purchase closed in late January or February 2014.