Corn Stoves Could Lessen Costs
By ROBERT D. SHIPPLETT
Letter to the editor
While listening to the Noon Report last Saturday on WGN Radio 720 AM, I heard an interview worth passing along.
Max Armstrong interviewed Chuck Gomez, owner and operator of the Watseka Theatre in Iroquois County. The renovated art deco theater was reopened last year and within two weeks was faced with a whopping $8,000 utility bill. Uncertain how to keep the facility open, Gomez turned to a local business that manufactures corn stoves.
A detailed analysis revealed that the facility required five corn stoves: two in the actual theater, and one each in the lobby, cafe and balcony. The stoves passed inspection with flying colors.
Using an alternative — and readily available — energy source, the theater’s fuel cost has been reduced to just 50 cents per day. Asked by Armstrong whether the theater smells like burning corn, Gomez replied that the air-tight burning chambers result in no smell inside the theater, and what is smelled outside is the “smell of saving money.” Furthermore, the energy savings for one month alone paid for the corn stoves.
This may sound corny, but Watseka’s solution may be something our Orpheum Theatre board and other civic organizations may find worth investigating. — Robert D. Shipplett, Galesburg
