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 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.
The building will become an arts workshop offering gallery space and rehearsal space. Also, it will 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.
\”The purchase of this building in no way changes our relationship with the Tyrone YMCA where we perform our main-stage productions. We have a lease for the theater in the ‘Y’ and will continue to perform on the same stage where Tyrone Players have performed for 50 years,” said Dannaway. “This building will, however, allow us to multi-task and prepare several theatrical ventures at the same time.\”
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. \”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 will fund 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 have been thinking, researching and talking about this purchase with Jeff Long, owner of the property, for several months.
“We have known for several years that we needed somewhere like this, but the right opportunity had not presented itself until now,” added Bennett. “We are very excited about the building. We love the age and history it has and are thrilled to be able to help save something of our past.”
Dannaway added, \”It was important to us that we stayed local. We spoke to several local banks, all of which were very supportive and enthusiastic about the project, but ultimately went with M&T.”
The Tyrone Players will begin moving into their new building April 1. All of the costumes have been packed into tubs, labeled, and are being stored in the construction facility behind the library building until the move.
\”We will be having an open house for the public a little later, after we have had some time to put our own fingerprint on the history of the building,\” said Bennett. \”In the meantime, things are progressing normally for our company. We are already in production for our next musical, Pippin, and plans are underway for a summer theater workshop for our youngest actors and actresses, which we are hoping to hold in the new building.\”
Dannaway concluded, \”We will be giving the building a new name, one that is appropriate for her new life in the arts community. We haven’t come up with the perfect title yet; we have been throwing things around, but we will let you know when the building is ready to be christened and her new name mounted on the exterior.\”
