Vance Trust to fund repairs to Memorial Auditorium

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WORTHINGTON — At a well-preserved 76 years old, Memorial Auditorium and Performing Arts Center may not need a complete facelift, but it will benefit from a nip here and a tuck there thanks to a generous bequest from the James Vance Trust.

Approximately $19,000 of the Vance bequest will be used to replace the auditorium’s high-maintenance wooden front door and its worn down, uneven front steps, which are believed to be original to the building.

“They’re old, used doors and they need a lot of maintenance each year — scraping and painting,” said Margaret Hurlbut Vosburgh, the auditorium’s manager. “Now they’re at a point where we really can’t repair them anymore.”

Earlier this month, the Memorial Advisory Board of Directors recommended the improvements to the Worthington City Council, which approved the recommendation.

“Mrs. (Florence) Vance was a huge supporter of the auditorium,” Hurlbut Vosburgh said.

Florence was married to James Vance, whose father, V.M. Vance, purchased the Worthington Daily Globe in 1929. James and his brother, Bob, helped run the newspaper in the 1950s.

The Vance family was very involved in the Worthington community and Florence, a dedicated music teacher, was particularly involved in its music scene. She even conducted the local male chorus in Memorial Auditorium.

“We would like to encourage people to think of the auditorium for contributions and encourage people to be more philanthropic for community enrichment that they believe in,” Hurlbut Vosburgh said.

How the rest of the Vance bequest will be spent has not yet been determined.

The door and steps projects will begin as soon as possible. Groninga Construction, Worthington, will replace the steps and Vern Leistico’s Doors and More, Worthington, will replace the doors. The new doors will have metal frames and thermal pane glass.

“They’ll look like what’s out there now. We’re trying to match the existing style of the doors,” Hurlbut Vosburgh said.

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