Article published July 17, 2009

MAKING NEW MEMORIES
Strand back in business
Theater lights up after 25 vacant years

ZELIENOPLE — The illuminated marquee on the front of the Strand Theater emanated bright lights Thursday night after 25 years of darkness in the vacant theater.
The theater, which opened in 1914 but has been vacant since 1984, reopened during the first night of the 46th annual Horse Trading Days festival.
The theater's premiere was a children's interactive play, "Mystery in the Library," where the actors and youths in the audience worked together to solve a mystery. A weeklong grand opening celebration is planned that will culminate with three performances, July 24 to 26, by stage and screen star Debbie Reynolds.
The reopening brought back fond memories for many Zelienople residents. Esther Robertson sat on a bench near the theater with her husband and reminisced over an ice cream cone.
She remembered the 1930s and 1940s when she'd go to the theater three times a week, a time when movies cost 10 cents. She also remembered the premiere of the classic movie "Gone With the Wind" in 1939 when the patron line stretched down Main Street.
The reopening also was a chance for new memories for other theatergoers.
Zelienople resident Allan Tomo and his 2-year-old daughter, Madeleine, became the first patrons to go through the Strand's doors in more than 25 years.
Tomo said he brought his daughter because the "Mystery in the Library" show was geared toward children. Though not a borough native, he said his wife came when she was a young girl.
Martha Florie, wife of Butler High School baseball coach Dave Florie, used to bring her four children to see Disney movies decades ago at the Strand. She stood outside the theater with her husband and several of her grandchildren, ready to make new memories in the same place.
"A theater like this is just wonderful for a small town," she said. "Zelienople was already such a neat town anyway and a great place to raise kids. But now it's got something else."
The opening night was a culmination of eight years of work and fundraising by Ron Carter, president of the Strand Theater Initiative.
It was Carter who, in 2001, started the nonprofit organization to revitalize a cultural icon on Main Street and to bring live entertainment back to the borough.
Carter, who also played a small role in the theater's opening murder-mystery play, said he hasn't had much time to sit back and think about the accomplishment. He said the past eight years have been a "very, very trying process" but the numerous donations and help from community members have helped push the project along.Carter never gave up his dream of reopening the theater with so much history. He knows now what it's like to see his dream come to fruition, even if he can't find a minute to enjoy it right now.
"This is really just the end of the first phase. There's so much more to do," Carter said. "It will be nice later to sit back and bask before the reality of running the theater full time sets in. I'll enjoy it for the first couple weeks, and then I'll realize there's a lot more work to do."
Carter has more plans for the renovated theater. A stage house is planned for the building adjacent to the theater now occupied by the Classy Lady Consignment Shop. A two-tier parking deck and cultural center that could host dance and art classes and could be rented out for receptions also is planned.
Carter said previously he hopes to have that phase of the project done by 2014, the theater's 100th anniversary.
The theater was built in 1914 and shared space with Sapienza's Fruit Market. The theater at 119 N. Main St. featured silent films and vaudeville performances.
The project wasn't a historic restoration, but Carter included as many original items as he could. The theater seats about 290 people.
While the outside of the building is virtually the same except for the marquee, the inside has been drastically renovated, although some components of the old movie theater remain, including the two 1930s-era film projectors.
Thursday night's performance was the start of a weeklong celebration.
Today's featured performance is the Joe Negri Quartet at 8:30 p.m. The performance is free, but tickets are required and will be available at the Strand tonight.
On Saturday, it will bring the Pop Rocks to the stage at 8 p.m. The band members range in age from 11 to 13 and gained regional fame with their remake of Pat Benatar's "Heartbreaker" with Pittsburgh Steelers lyrics.
That performance also is free, but tickets are required and will be available at the theater box office that night.