The Garden Theater’s Green Energy Roof

Stuff We Love

By Ross Boissoneau | April 20, 2024

In 2018, Garden Theater owners Rick and Jennie Schmitt and Blake and Marci Brooks looked into installing solar panels on the roof of the Frankfort landmark. Just one problem: The engineer told them the roof was so compromised it could collapse from the weight of a heavy snowfall. That led to the creation of a non-profit, which purchased the theater and raised funds to renovate the aging structure. Fast-forward six years, and plans call for installing 120 panels on the now-reinforced roof. “It’s a full-circle story,” says Schmitt, now president of the Friends of the Garden Theater Board of Directors. CBS Solar of Copemish will install enough panels to almost exactly offset the theater’s energy usage. The Friends have already raised $130,000 of the total cost of $175,000, with the project to be completed this summer.