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Owners close Starlite 14 drive-in, but it’s for sale
STARLITE 14
BILL AND LINDA MUTH have owned the Starlite 14 drive-in movie theater in Richland Center since 1988. Their final night was Sunday, September 1, when a record 562 people showed up.
Dawn Kiefer
Published: Sep 5, 2019, 10:37 PM

RICHLAND CENTER - Many area residents have heard that the movie theaters in Richland Center are closing  –  Center Cinema Twins downtown and Starlite 14 drive-in on US Hwy. 14 East.

While that is true, it’s only part of the story.

Theater owners Bill and Lisa Muth say, “The bottom line is we’re retiring. If someone wants to buy, we’re all in favor of selling and we’ll help them.

“We set a six-month goal, ending in March, that if there are no buyers for both (the indoor theaters and the drive-in) we’ll start selling off the equipment.

“Just because we’re retiring doesn’t mean the theaters will permanently close, as long as a new buyer is found. We will help them get their feet on the ground and get started. We’ll explain all the nuts and bolts of the operation.”

The Muths make clear that Center Cinema Twins and Starlite 14 are a package deal; not one or the other.

In any case, both the indoor and drive-in theaters will be closed soon; the drive-in’s last show was on Sunday, September 1 (which is normal for any year), and the indoor theater’s last show will be on Thursday, September 5.

Last of its kind

The closing of the Starlite 14 leaves just eight drive-in movie theaters remaining in Wisconsin. On closing night Sunday the Starlite set a new record for moving going patrons, with 185 vehicles and 562 people taking in a double feature of Aladdin and The Lion King.

When Richland Center Mayor Mike Kaufman heard that the theaters were closing, he said on WRCO that he’s very concerned because, “The theater is an awfully important part of every community. I’m trying to put a plan in place…Even though it’s a private entity, it affects all the community.” Mayor Kaufman said he has asked a City Council member to investigate the possibility of keeping the theaters going.

Meanwhile, the Muths are moving forward with their plan. They have enlisted the services of realtor Gary Kershner (608-647-4513), with a price of $180,000 for the package deal (indoor and outdoor theaters). They state that prospective buyers will be required to sign a non-disclosure agreement on the business’s financial records.

“That will weed out curiosity seekers,” they say.

The Muths want to make clear what the theaters’ sale proposition entails. It includes the building that houses the two indoor screens, but only the structures and equipment at the outdoor theater. The drive-in is on a lifetime lease with the property owners. If the drive-in permanently ceases to exist the property owners get the land back free and clear. The Muths have never owned the land.

No rent to run the drive-in theater is paid by the Muths; however they pay property tax on 20 acres of land, even though the drive-in takes up only five of those acres. The property owners are free to do as they please with the remaining 15 acres. Bill Muth keeps the drive-in area mowed.

A new owner could do as they wished with the structures at the drive-in, aside from moving them elsewhere; however the only actual monetary value is in the equipment, which includes a relatively new digital projector. The indoor theater obtained two new digital projectors at the same time.

“All digital conversion assistance will be paid off,” the Muths said. “We will liquidate assets to pay off the digital obligations.”

The Muths point out that a buyer couldn’t get financial backing for the drive-in only, because of the lifetime lease of the land.

“The two businesses support each other,” the Muths say. “The drive-in can make more in four months than the indoor all year.”

Bill Muth has been involved with the movie theaters’ operations for most of his life. He started working at them in 1975, when Don Nanstad was manager; followed by working for Richard Resnick, whose wife was related to the Eskin family  –  longtime Richland Center movie theater owners. When Resnick died, his son, Richard Junior, ran the operation until he put it up for sale. Knute Nelson bought the indoor theater on a land contract, later selling it to Ed Nicolay. When the Muths bought it in 1988 they didn’t want a land contract, so they bought it through a bank and paid that loan off.

The Muths have run the movie theaters as a labor of love for more than three decades.

They say, “For the greater good of the community, we sacrificed and skipped school events (of their kids). “We’ve dedicated all this time to running these theaters and now it’s time for us to live our lives a bit more.”
Watershed Council collaborates with Gays Mills around sewer plant challenges
Tainter Creek
layout
TAINTER CREEK Watershed Council is partnering with the Village of Gays Mills to facilitate conservation practice installation upstream of the village’s Waste Water Treatment Facility. The newly reinvigorated watershed council now pulls from the greater Tainter Creek Watershed, which includes four subwatersheds.
GILLIAN POMPLUN
Crawford County Independent & Kickapoo Scout
Published: May 21, 2025, 3:42 PM

The Tainter Creek Watershed Council (TCWC) assembled about 10 members for a meeting with Gays Mills Village President Harry Heisz and Village Trustee Ethan Eitsert from the Gays Mills Village Board on Wednesday, May 7. The subject of the meeting was how the farmers and rural landowners in the watershed could help the village with conservation practices that could buy the village time to plan for replacement of the Waste Water Treatment Facility (WWTF).

“It’s not just about the village – we also want to make this work to improve the creek,” Harry Heisz said. “WDNR has ultimately said we have to relocate our WWTF away from the banks of the Kickapoo River, but the village is grappling with the costs of that. In the meantime, while we plan, we are looking to offset the very low phosphorous in effluent requirements of the state and the federal government through partnering with farmers and rural landowners on conservation practices that can measurably reduce phosphorous in the Kickapoo River.”

Heisz explained that the village would pursue loans and grants to pay for the practice installations in order to buy time and avoid costly WDNR fines.

The Village of Soldiers Grove at their May meeting approved upgrades to their WWTF which, if grant  and low-interest loan funding is approved, will result in an increase of residential sewer rates (average of $580 per year per user) by between $100 to $200 per month in order to meet state and federal requirements.

“To meet WDNR’s phosphorous requirements would cost the village $3 million if we don’t pursue these conservation projects,” village trustee Ethan Eitsert commented.

TCWC grazing project

Longtime TCWC member Chuck Bolstad weighed in on the topic.

“TCWC, through a portfolio of projects like cover crops and our Pasture Project, undertaken partnership with the Wallace Center Pasture Project, and using $1.15 million in funding from U.S. EPA’s Gulf of Mexico Division Farmer to Farmer Program, has already lowered phosphorous in Tainter Creek,” Bolstad said proudly. “We have a proven track record, supported by years of water quality monitoring in the creek.”

Locally, the Grazing Project program was implemented by Valley Stewardship Network (VSN), with technical support from two experienced local grazers – Jim Munsch of Coon Valley and Dennis Rooney of Steuben. Former VSN employees Dani Heisler and Monique Hassman worked extensively on the program, coordinating with farmer participants and Munsch and Rooney, creating maps to support the project, and more.

“We blew our initial goals out of the water with this project, and it has been a wild success,” Dani Heisler (now the DATCP Producer-Led Program Manager) told the group. “Through this project in the Tainter Creek Watershed, we achieved 135 percent of our goal for reduction of phosphorous leaving fields in the watershed, and 170 percent of our goal for reduction of sediment leaving fields in the watershed.”

Heisler said this meant that phosphorous leaving farm fields in the watershed each year is reduced by 2,300 pounds (initial goal was 1,700 pounds). Reduction of sediment leaving fields in the watershed each year as a result of the project is reduced by an estimated 1,600 tons (initial goal was 940 tons).

Need the points

“We know we have to get the points, and we’ve just applied for another five-year waiver from WDNR,” Heisz said. “By the end of five years, if we receive the waiver, we hope to have a new waste water treatment plant.”

Heisz said that any eligible project would have to be documented by soil samples – before and after.

One of TCWC’s founding farmers Grant Rudrud, asked Heisz where the conservation practice installations could occur and still be eligible. Heisz responded that anything upstream of the sewer plant, and below any other WWTF would be eligible.

TCWC member from the Trout Creek Subwatershed, Monique Hassman, asked who is responsible for maintenance and repair if the project is damaged?

“The village has to maintain it and repair it if it is damaged,” Heisz responded. “We will also have to have access on an ongoing basis for maintenance, and for soil sampling.”

TCWC member from rural Soldiers Grove, grassfed beef farmer Bruce Ristow, shared several prospects with landowners he had identified.

TCWC farmer member Jesse Blum shared that fixing sinkholes and ditches could be a good avenue, that would meet the village’s needs and also meet the needs of farmers.

“It doesn’t have to be right on the creek,” Heisz responded. “I think putting in some small dams (farm ponds) could be a good option, and could help with the village’s flooding problems as well.”

Heisz summed up saying, “the next step is to meet with the landowners with the representative of our engineering firm present.”

The Tainter Creek Watershed Council is planning another meeting in June at the Kickapoo Orchard.

At their March 18 meeting, held in Readstown, the group attracted over 65 participants. This drew from the newly-expanded boundaries of the watershed to include four subwatersheds – Tainter Creek, Reads Creek, Trout Creek, and Kickapoo River/Caswell Hollow in Gays Mills. The area now includes the municipalities of Readstown, Soldiers Grove, Gays Mills and Mt. Sterling. Look for more information coming soon about this dynamic group.