Long-shuttered theater's re-opening revitalizes businesses

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) - A theater re-opened for live events after 25 years has been a boon for neighboring business.

WANE-TV reports that Rick Kinney bought the shuttered Clyde Theater in 2012 and opened last month. There have already been eight events there. The band War played Friday night.

La Fogata is a Mexican restaurant next door to the Clyde in Quimby Village. Manager Eduardo Guzman says the restaurant was set to relocate before business shot up with patrons stopping for dinner before a performance at the Clyde.

A key part of the renovation was Kinney's resurfacing of a long-neglected six-acre parking lot.

Kinney says renovating the Clyde - home to nothing but pigeons when he bought it - has been a "rollercoaster." He says he got a "street level education in business management."