David and Susan Millstein are known for their preservation efforts in the 1970s and ’80s, when our downtown was struggling to survive. The Millsteins purchased, saved and/or played a part in renovating numerous buildings downtown, including the Sunflower Outdoor & Bike Shop, the Casbah where Burger Stand is, the building where Sarah’s Fabrics resides, and the Free State Brewery buildout.

In 1986, the Millsteins, along with Charley and Tensie Oldfather, purchased Liberty Hall. J. D. Bowersock had the Beaux-Arts three-story building constructed in 1912 after a fire in 1911 destroyed the original building constructed in 1870. It was and remains one of the architectural crown jewels of our downtown, originally named the Bowersock Opera House.

The Millsteins purchased a building in very poor condition. 

“It was all black, all dark. ‘Wow, this place has not really been taken care of lately,’” their son, Josh Millstein, reflects on his first memory of walking into Liberty Hall with his father. Josh was around 8 years old at the time. “It was kind of spooky.” 

David and Josh Millstein (Contributed photos)

Josh had been around Liberty Hall his entire life, yet he was never involved with the day-to-day operations. He graduated from KU with a computer engineering degree and worked for a software development company the past 15 years. 

His father died in 2020 after a three-year battle with leukemia. David was the heart and soul of Liberty Hall, and his absence has been significant. 

Like so many businesses, the COVID-19 pandemic also impacted Liberty Hall. 

Fortunately, Liberty Hall survived, but the business was losing money. Josh says his mom “was ready to relinquish her responsibilities as soon as possible.” And the Millsteins’ daughters, Audrey and Casey, were residing in California. 

The family was faced with a decision about the fate of Liberty Hall.

Josh made the paramount decision to leave his job and step in. He’s been working as co-owner and general manager since May 2024. 

“I love Liberty Hall. From an emotional aspect, it was one of my parents’ best projects that represented a lot of the different skills and mindset they had,” he says. 

He’s gotten back in touch with some of the people who have worked on the place, including Ben Graham, he says.

“They are so emotional and loving of the place. You can’t help not to get some of that rubbed off on you, too,” he says. “These are people that worked with Dad. It touches on a ton of facets of things that I think are important; community. It challenges me, continuing on with something that is beneficial for everyone.”

Josh says he thinks his father’s vision for Liberty Hall was to have a community place that is representative of the progressiveness upon which Lawrence was founded. 

“When I was growing up, my parents were very much into John Brown, anti-slavery,” he says. “This is a progressive thing. Lawrence was a bastion of that. The Civil War Battle of Black Jack was near our home in Baldwin. The main push was to build community and have the main message be inclusivity and justice and be able to promote that.”

Josh is sensitive to being the new guy at Liberty Hall, with the added pressure of being the owners’ son. He describes his first months at Liberty Hall as being a time for him to listen and learn from the employees how the business works while looking for ways to improve. 

He says he understands each employee plays a key role in making the business operate smoothly and be profitable. To that end, Josh explains, they’ve created an employee bonus program that tracks with the success of the business. 

“The more successful we are the more all the employees are incentivized, and we create a more cohesive team,” he says. 

Josh is also aware of the building’s aging infrastructure.

 “We really are focused on fixing the building, making it a priority and trying to get ahead of stuff that has been neglected,” he says. 

An obvious problem is apparent by the scaffolding in front. About the same time Josh started at Liberty Hall, he received an email from someone who works across the street with a photograph that showed a piece of terracotta that had fallen off the top front façade, landing on the ledge below.

Josh later learned — with the help of Mike Myers and Stan Hernly of the architectural firm Hernly Associates Inc., along with Josh Davis of Penn Street Engineering — that the raking cornice had water damage. This is the section that follows the slope of the gable of the building.

The steel beams protruding through the front holding the terracotta in place were failing. This phenomenon is called rust jacking. The top section of the building needed to be deconstructed. Josh hired GKW Restoration Group to install the scaffolding and complete the deconstruction. 

Josh says the repairs will commence soon and be completed in the summer. 

Since Liberty Hall is a key contributing element to the downtown historic district, he reached out to the Kansas State Historical Society. Josh brought in local attorney and historic preservationist Patrick Watkins, Hernly Associates and Davis for advice in navigating the repairs and exploring funding options.

“We took a holistic approach and brought in the right people at the right time,” Watkins says, referring to the group as the “Dream Team.” 

Thanks to Joni Hernly, Watkins, Myers and the Millsteins, they applied to the Kansas State Historical Society and were awarded a $100,000 Heritage Trust Fund grant. They are also pursuing a Douglas County Heritage Conservation Council grant and will be securing state tax credits when the work is completed.

Watkins beautifully conveys the significance of Liberty Hall: “To have an independent movie theatre is exceptionally special. The stakes are very high. Our community has something remarkable; it’s a reflection of the community. If it goes away, another one will not take its place. We all have so many memories that have taken place at Liberty Hall.”

Josh often thinks about what his father might say of his leadership now. 

“I think he would be supportive. He would realize that I am making an honest effort. I have skills to bring to the table that I definitely didn’t have when I was in my 20s,” he says. “I know at least I have his initial vision in my mind, and he would like that it is being carried on.” 

Lawrence is indebted to David and Susan Millstein for having the vision and foresight to save Liberty Hall 40 years ago. Many thanks to Josh for his decision to take on the leadership role, while maintaining his father’s vision to make Liberty Hall a gathering place for all. Hopefully Liberty Hall will remain a place to gather and hold the aspirational view Abraham Lincoln held of Lawrence, “the cradle of liberty.”

It truly takes a community to save a historic building. 

It’s easy to go to a movie, rent movies from the video library, attend a concert, buy merchandise, purchase items from the concession stand, tip the servers, attend a lecture or a poetry reading, give your out-of-town family member or friends a tour of the building, and express gratitude to Liberty Hall staff. 

All these choices honor J.D. Bowersock’s decision to rebuild the Bowersock Opera House, David Millstein’s vision, and Josh’s determination to keep his father’s vision alive for our community.

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