(Editor’s note: The Daily Herald continues its Top Ten countdown of the most important local news stories of 2004. The series will continue each day the newspaper is published until the Number One story, as chosen by the Herald staff.)
In January, motorists and those walking on downtown sidewalks saw the first signs of life on the corner of Pennsylvania Avenue and 10th Street in nearly a decade with the progress of the new location for the Tyrone-Snyder Public Library.
The project to bring the state-of-the-art facility to Tyrone was nearing its final stages and the hope was to begin moving things from the facility on Logan Avenue to the new location by the end of March.
It was noted in a January Daily Herald article that more than 26,000 cataloged and un-cataloged items needed to be moved. But before that could happen, the inside furnishings had to arrive and be installed.
Approximately $7,600 worth of furniture – including chairs, desks and shelving had been ordered and was expected to arrive in mid-February.
In February, the new library continued with its progress. According to Chuck Banas, the library board’s vice president, no formal opening date had been set, but it was expected in the very near future.
The board decided to officially close the doors of the Logan Avenue facility from March 8 – 27 in order to make the move and have all the materials ready for the opening of the new library.
As for the old building, on the same day The Tyrone Community Players were celebrating their 20th anniversary with a spectacular theater retrospective, members also signed the papers to become the new owners of the former Tyrone-Snyder Public Library building located at 1019 Logan Avenue, Tyrone.
“The purchase of this building is something we have discussed for quite some time. It is a lovely, historic facility and we, The Players, are very excited to be able to help preserve it and renovate it to the appearance it had when it was The Elks Hall,” said president of The Player’s board of directors, Sharon Dannaway in a March article.
The plan for the building was for it to become an arts workshop, offering gallery space and rehearsal space. The article also stated it would provide room for art and music lessons, a small venue performance space, a costume and properties storage space and a permanent home for children’s summer workshops, theater camps, and choral projects.
Built in 1926, the three story brick building was originally used as the Elks Lodge.
“There are so many interesting points about the building,” said Cindy Bennett, member of TCP’s production committee, in the March article. “The history just cries out to you when you walk through the rooms.
“We are hoping to be able to bring some of that history back to life with the help of the talented artisans within the Players. The ballroom on the second level will become a small performance/meeting/party area that could be used by community organizations other than The Players for various functions.
“The space that now houses the children’s library in the basement will become an organized home for our large inventory of costumes and properties, allowing us easy access for rentals and theater use, while the ground level is intended to be renovated into a lovely lobby with the dance floor restored and the fireplace reopened. This space can, and will, be used for gallery openings, recitals, the possibilities are just endless.”
The building was purchased with a mortgage from M&T Bank, and the Players closed on the property Friday, February 27.
According to Bennett, the Players are funding the mortgage by adding some additional programming to the children’s summer theater workshop and by participating in some other fund raisers.
She said the Players had been thinking, researching and talking about the purchase with Jeff Long, owner of the property, for several months.
The Tyrone Players began moving into their new building at the beginning of April.
Dozens of volunteers showed up at the beginning of March at the Tyrone-Snyder Public Library’s location on Logan Avenue to help clear the shelves, pack some boxes and begin the move to the new location just a block away. DelGrosso’s and the community donated hundreds of boxes, and East End Pizza provided pizza for everyone at lunchtime.
Officials from Reliance Bank presented a check for $4,500 to the Tyrone-Snyder Library in March.
In a previous Daily Herald article, Reliance officials said they were happy to support the library in its quest to build a more modern and user-friendly library for Tyrone and surrounding townships.
It was noted in the March article that over the past couple of years, library officials and volunteers have feverishly worked to raise more than $400,000 to offset the costs of the near $700,000 project. The board of officials also secured a low-interest mortgage loan to finish paying the costs associated with the new building.
The library’s doors finally opened in April, and despite heavy rains at times, workers at the Tyrone-Snyder Public Library said a good number of people walked through the doors when it opened on April 11.
The building the library is now housed in is the former Jones building. It was purchased by Jeff Long, the local contractor who built the new facility, with the promise from the board that it would purchase the facility once completed.
It contains more than 7,500 usable square feet and has a nice sized parking lot at its rear. Inside, visitors are treated to a state-of-the-art facility, complete with a fully-functioning computer lab, a conference room, children’s area with two computers, fiction and non-fiction shelving, an audio area memorializing former Tyrone Area High School band director Gerry Roberts, a periodical section, as well as a Tyrone History Room and room for conferences or meetings.
The library’s former location caused officials in mid-2002 to begin seeking options for either repairs or new construction. The building on Logan Avenue was a 3,000-square foot building that is not handicapped accessible. There are no elevators in the two-story structure and the restrooms do not accommodate wheelchair-bound visitors.
