A set of long-awaited upgrades could hit the stage at the Missouri Theater.

The City Council passed a resolution in April allowing the city to apply for a Missouri Arts Challenge Dream Challenge Grant to pay for a new curtain and related equipment. The grant has a $20,000 limit and requires a 4-to-1 match from the city. Price estimates for the curtain and fly system have ranged from $100,000 to $120,000, according to information provided to council members.

The city will not know the actual project cost until it opens sealed bids June 2. The city would fund the project with money from the Capital Improvements Program (CIP) Sales Tax Fund.

The curtain and fly system were not damaged in the recent fire at the Missouri Theater and would have been replaced anyway. The curtains were installed in 1979 and are not flame-retardant. As for the fly system, stage crews still work with the original equipment installed when the theater opened in 1927.

“The curtains are literally rotted away,” said Teresa Fankhauser, executive director of the Allied Arts Council. “If you look at the back, some of them are held together with safety pins.”

The fly system — ropes, pulleys and weights that help the stage crew move set pieces — is outdated and cannot handle the complex sets of many modern productions. The curtains that will be replaced are referred to as leg curtains, which are used to hide backstage areas from the audience.

Clinton Thomas can be reached

at clintonthomas@npgco.com.