Live theater and a street fair may be coming to Main Street in Zelienople.

Council voted unanimously Monday to endorse a project to restore the 1920s-era Strand Theater. It also approved use of a borough park for a festival in October.

Ron Carter, of Cranberry, who wants to offer professional live theater in the closed Strand Theater on Main Street, asked council for a proclamation endorsing his $1 million “Strand Theater Initiative.”

“I would like to be operational by this time next year,” he said. “There’s no question that this will bring traffic into town. There is no professional theater in the northern area of Pittsburgh.”

Carter said he hoped to have 300 to 400 seats available for up to 35 plays a year and planned to charge $25 to $35 per ticket, just enough to cover the costs for the nonprofit venture.

Carter said he had signed a sales agreement for $150,000 that must be completed by Nov. 1 or a backup offer will take effect. Those buyers want to tear down the Strand, he said.

Carter said even though he has so far accumulated only $300 toward the project, he expects to raise the bulk of the funds through grants from arts foundations and private corporations.

“All of those groups will be much more receptive when they see that borough council and the whole community is behind this officially,” he said.

He said the sales agreement is contingent on the owner tearing down a building in the rear of the property so he can construct a lot for valet parking of up to 30 cars. Other patrons, he said, would use Main Street metered parking or nearby church lots and walk or take a shuttle bus to the theater.

Council President Charles Underwood, who owns Chubby Chuck’s restaurant on Main Street across from the Strand, said he had previously backed a merchant’s effort to tear down the dilapidated theater for a parking lot.

Council also approved a request from Sandy Bankston, owner of Candle Works Gifts and Crafts Ltd. On Main Street, to use the borough park on Main Street for a fall festival of craft vendors similar to the one that is held during the town’s annual Horse Trading Days. Previously, the fall festival was limited to Hall’s Market and the North Gate Plaza north of Zelienople in Jackson.

“Now is the time to be proactive and showcase the community,” Bankston said, adding that a new mall planned in nearby Jackson could siphon off customers who patronize Main Street businesses.