NEWS AND EVENTS
Tompkins County Legislature to fund tourism projectWed Jun 17, 2009
The Ithaca Motion Picture Project might finally get the boost it needs to transform the Wharton Studio Building in Stewart Park into a regional film center.
Tompkins County Legislature members voted Tuesday to distribute $208,500 to tourism projects, many of them involving theater.
From 1911 to 1923, more than 100 silent films were directed and produced in the studio started by brothers Theodore and Leopold Wharton. Film buffs Constance Bruce and Diana Riesman are determined to create a museum-gallery in the historic building, and have been working closely with owners the City of Ithaca to create a renovation plan. They have obtained a resolution of support from the Parks Commission, but aside from bouts of personal fundraising, they have been unable to attract much investment in the project.
The $5,000 grant would allow them to formulate a proper business plan and project outline, which they hope to complete by October, expanding on work already done by two business students at Cornell University and architect Todd Zwigard.
"This would be a true tourist attraction, really aimed at tourist visitors more than the local community," Martha Armstrong of Tompkins County Area Development (TCAD) wrote in a memo to members of the legislature’s Planning, Development and Environmental Quality Committee. “Regional connections with the Eastman house, considered to be among the top cinematic collections worldwide, in Rochester, and the Case Research Lab, birthplace of talking movies, in Auburn, could create synergy for visitors with an interest in film history.
excerpted from the Ithaca Journal