KIESTER — Some major changes are coming to the theater in this community.

By the end of July, the Kee Civic Theatre will be upgraded with a digital projector and sound system.

“The movie industry is saying this is the biggest revolution since going from silent movies to talking,” said theater board president Larry Hummer.

He said board members received information in October that by September 2012, some of the movie studios were going to stop making 35mm film, so they had to decide whether to move forward with the venture.

For the digital projector and sound system, it was estimated to cost about $68,000.

Hummer said the board voted to go ahead with the upgrade and developed a business plan on how to finance it. They anticipated the money would come from donations, grants and some borrowing.

“But amazingly, we’re not going to have to borrow any money,” he said.

Since January of this year, the group has been fundraising, and already they have raised $62,000 in donations and one $10,000 grant from a Cannon Valley foundation.

“We’re real pleased with that,” Hummer said.

The group had sent out an insert in the Courier-Sentinel in Kiester explaining the fundraising campaign, from which there was “tremendous response,” he said.

So far there have been 330 donations.

“It’s pretty amazing when you consider the population of Kiester is 500,” he noted.

Now that the money has been raised, he said the board will order the equipment.

They plan to have a grand opening for all of the donors in late July.

The theater, at 108 N. Main St., is open three days a week — Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. There is only one showing per day.

It shows first-run movies, but still offers inexpensive prices.

Built in the late 1930s, the Kee Civic Theatre became a nonprofit organization in 1991. At that time, the theater was about to go out of business, so about 18 people came together and purchased it. The group raised money and renovated the building.