ROCHELLE — On Thursday, March 21, a ribbon cutting was held for the Lincoln Arts Center at 108 S Main Street, Rochelle, the former site of Lincoln Elementary School and the recently-renovated home of the Vince Carney Community Theater. The Lincoln Arts Center is now also open for rentals and non-VCCT events. 

Speakers at the ribbon cutting included VCCT Board President Amy Frank, Rochelle Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Tricia Herrera, and Rochelle Mayor John Bearrows. Frank thanked the community members that attended for showing their support. 

The Lincoln Arts Center has been renovated to fit its new VCCT and rental use by volunteers. The building was donated to VCCT by the Kennay family. 

“This has been a labor of love,” Frank said. “We took the shell of what was left behind of Lincoln School and my husband, Steve Frank, was in charge of the renovations. He didn't do all of it himself, but he organized us all and kept everybody on task. We've been able to renovate this building and make it the anchor of downtown Rochelle. We are now available for rent and we're not just performing our own shows here. Twice this year, we've brought in outside entertainment with two professional comedians. We're bringing in other talent, performing our own shows and being available for rent for things like business meetings, wedding receptions and parties. It is available to the community. We absolutely appreciate being here. We're looking forward to everything to come.”

Herrera said the building and VCCT are longtime pillars of the community for people that have grown up in Rochelle. She called the newly-renovated Lincoln Arts Center “a great addition” to Rochelle. 

“We have so many people that call us and ask about different quality-of-life things,” Herrera said. “And we always tell them about VCCT and this great space and how it's such a great addition. VCCT has been a chamber member for a long time, and now we have the Lincoln Arts Center. We can have people use this space. It's very beautiful and functional. For a lot of people, they still think this is Lincoln School. But we know now about the transformation and how beautiful and functional it is. Thank you for all of that and welcome to the chamber.”

In his speech, Bearrows spoke about the history of the building and how it came to be the Lincoln Arts Center. He thanked VCCT and its volunteers for taking on the project so the building can live on. 

“I think it's amazing what you've done through all-volunteer work,” Bearrows said. “I think that says a lot about this community and what type of people we have to support different types of venues. I'm anxious to see what we'll see at the Lincoln Arts Center. We have a great amount of talent in the arts in a lot of different ways. This is a building that can showcase all of that. I'm thankful for all of the work you all have done to put this together and we just welcome you to be a part of Rochelle. This is a great backbone for our community.”