Lake City Playhouse to continue selling engraved bricks as fundraiser

COEUR d'ALENE — For a reminder of how much Lake City Playhouse is loved and supported by the community, all people have to do is look beneath their feet when stepping across the nonprofit theater's newly installed paver patio.

Names of individuals and logos of local businesses have been etched onto bricks large and small as a way to recognize those who helped revive the historical playhouse after a devastating flood in 2021. The bricks also pay tribute to the many generations of actors and families who have graced Lake City's stage.

“The Kroc donated space, like $8,000 of the fee for the space for ‘Matilda,’” Lake City Playhouse volunteer Damon Wood said Jan. 8, pointing to the different pavers. “Ferguson’s Plumbing donated the fixtures: toilets, sinks, faucets, handrails. All that stuff adds up. That was like a $3,000, $4,000 donation. Coeur d’Alene Closets donated the cabinets. Dawson’s Plumbing donated half the plumbing.”

The paver patio, completed in early December 2024, replaces a water feature that had been on site for some years. Wood said while the water feature was appreciated, the patio serves a better purpose at the playhouse as it will be used by actors and community members alike.

"The water feature was great," he said, "but in a community theater where everyone is a volunteer, the less maintenance the better.”

The engraved bricks were sold as a fundraiser for the playhouse. Another paver campaign will launch with Lake City Playhouse's Jan. 31 opening of "Rent."

“The goal is to continue to utilize this as a fundraiser — because we have space to add more bricks — and work on building a closet system in the basement to store costumes so we can get rid of the cargo containers," Wood said.

Damon Wood conducted the lion's share of the patio work, which Lake City Playhouse Artistic Director Brooke Wood said was made possible through his vision and connections around town. She said he has an amazing ability to put ideas into action.

"As his wife, I cannot tell you how many times I have stood in awe of the effort he put into this vision," she said. "LCP is so lucky to have him in the fundraising side of things. More than anything we are so thankful for the time he took from his own job as a realtor and the hours he poured in. LCP is here and has a really bright future because of him.”

Prices will be $250 for 4-by-8-inch pavers and $1,000 for 12-by-12.

Info: lakecityplayhouse.org or 208-771-7061.

    A large brick purchased by Jenna Griffitts-Leggat and Brad Leggat engraved with a loving message for their son, Van, is one of the bricks visitors will see as they approach Lake City Playhouse. The theater will commence another brick-naming fundraising campaign Jan. 31.