Butler Eagle, Friday, December 28th, 2001 – Front Page Feature Story

Butler, Zelie try to resurrect old theaters in 2001

Efforts likely to continue
By Angela Pfeiffer

Eagle Staff Writer

In 2001, Zelienople and Butler offered examples of communities trying to save long-term entertainment venues.

The efforts of community leaders are expected to continue into the new year.

Strand Theater

In May, Cranberry Township businessman Ron Carter publicized his plans to restore the dilapidated Strand Theater on Main Street in Zelienople.

The theater was the town’s longtime movie house until it was shuttered in the mid-1980s.

Carter formed a nonprofit organization, called the Strand Theater Initiative, and secured a $150,000 sales agreement with owner Gloria Nelavanko.

He hopes to convert the building into a theater hosting 35 professional shows a year and seating 200 to 300 patrons.

Before his plans can come to fruition, Carter will need to complete an estimated $1,8 million in improvements. Most of this funding, Carter hopes, will be supplied by foundations and endowments.

But first, Carter needs to gather the money to buy the building, and this summer he embarked on a fund-raising and public relations blitz to accomplish that

He hosted a town meeting in October to reveal his plans and received the endorsement of Zelienople council.

To date, Carter has raised $12,000, including $1,200 at a recent benefit concert held at the Seneca Valley Intermediate High School auditorium.

Carter said about 200 people attended the concert, which included acts by a comedian, comedian magician, blues band, surf band, Appalachian clog dancer and 10-year-old tap dancer.

Carter has also assembled a fund-raising network of more than 30 volunteers and raised $7,200 in seat sponsorships - $200 donations that attain for the donor a seat inscription when the theater is fully restored.

Although Carter still needs $138,000 to buy the building, he may be able to extend the sales agreement or enter into a mortgage. The sales agreement has already been extended once.

Carter said the response of the community, while short of the $150,000 needed, has been generous, considering that regulations regarding nonprofit organizations prohibit refunds to the Strand’s donors should the project fall through.

“People are really stepping up and giving money, without any guarantee that this is going to happen, although we certainly fell that it is going to happen,” he said.

Penn Cinemas

Although Penn Cinemas on Butler’s Main Street ended its 63 years of showing movies in May, at least two groups have shown an interest in buying the theater from its owner, Theater Management Inc. of DeLand, Fla.

The Revitalization Advisory Board, a citizen panel which makes recommendations on downtown renewal to city council, is pursuing the possibility of state and federal grants to purchase the $195,000, two-story building, which was last renovated in 1997 for $250,000.

Also, the nonprofit, ecumenical musical group Sing Hosanna! In August stepped forward to say that it was interested in buying the building and moving in.

The group, with 80 to 100 members, rents space for its performances at Butler Junior High School but wants a home of its own.

Joe Bratkovich, Butler City councilman, said the grants could be used to buy the building, and the city or a nonprofit group such as Sing Hosanna! Could manage it, either as a movie house or live theater.

“From the city’s standpoint, we really can’t get into the business of buying real estate or being a developer,” Bratkovich said.

Zelienople park

Community leaders were kept busy with the fate of another place of recreation – the park in Zelienople and Jackson Township.

Facing the rising costs of maintenance and the rapid aging of its facilities, the private Community Park Association turned to local government for help this fall.

Board members for the park asked the surrounding townships and boroughs to begin contributing a total of $50,000 annually.

They requested $20,000 from Zelienople; $15,000 from Jackson Township; $10,000 from Lancaster Township; and $5,000 from Harmony.

Now that the municipalities have wrapped up their budget process for 2002 the tallies are in and park board members are left holding a mere fifteen percent of what they requested: $3,000 from Lancaster; $2,500 from Zelienople for supplies, insurance and general expenses; and $2,000 from Harmony.

Jackson supervisors, according to township manger Fritz Szymoniak, said they were not aware the park was even considered a regional asset.

The supervisors have opted instead to try to purchase a 48-acre property on Toll Gate Road, which would become the township park.

“We have our own park to worry about,’ said supervisor chairman

A.J. “Doc” MacDonald. “Where have they (the Community Park Association) been all these years?”

For now, the park’s board members will discuss their options at their next meeting, including whether to hand over control to the borough.

Such a takeover could assume several forms, including allowing council members to sit on the board or forming a park authority, and it would bring the park eligibility for state grants, which require some form of municipal ownership.

Board members have said they would seek the opinions of park members before taking the next step.

The board meets in January.

The Strand Theater Initiative now has a direct phone number: 742-742-0400. It can also be accessed on the Web at www.TheStrandTheater.org.