ST. LOUIS • The quest to save the Kiel Opera House is most likely over, but Ed Golterman is still fighting.
Golterman, who spent more than a decade working to bring the dormant downtown structure back to life, walked about five miles from the Muny to the Kiel Opera House on Sunday afternoon—a stunt to highlight the Muny's four-day closure over the holiday weekend.
"We need all the revenue we can get," Golterman said on Sunday. "So why close an attraction that could draw a lot of people?"
The show "Titanic: The Musical" is set to open at the Muny, the nation's largest outdoor theater, on Monday. "Beauty and the Beast" ended its run on Wednesday. Through the years, the Muny has briefly closed around July 4.
Golterman walked the stretch with a pair of ragged tennis shoes draped around his neck. He wore the shoes 10 years ago when he walked about 125 miles from St. Louis to the Columbia, Mo. home of billionaires Bill and Nancy Laurie, who at the time had a controlling interest in the long-shuttered Kiel Opera House.
Last week, financing for the Kiel's $78.7 million renovation fell into place.
