The Penn Theater in downtown Butler could see a rebirth a lot quicker than most thought.
According to Penn Theater Performance Company President Dane Winkler, the group is in talks with the owner of the building, the Redevelopment Authority, and could have a lease worked out and signed in the next few months. The goal of the nonprofit group is to have an occupancy permit by April 1, which would coincide with the theater’s 80th anniversary.
“The Redevelopment Authority is the owner of the building. We have a lawyer on our board who has been in talks with the solicitor for the Redevelopment Authority. They’re just finishing some minor details; they have a lease worked out. We’re going to sign that lease and we’re going to have an option to buy in that lease. We’re going to make some lease payments and we’re going to be able to sub-lease the two storefronts and then use that to generate some revenue,” Winkler said during a live interview Thursday on WISR 680AM.
The group has raised over $16,000 so far through events and fundraisers. The next planned fundraiser is a buffet dinner and comedy show at Element Café in downtown Butler scheduled for Friday, Oct. 13. BYOB tickets are $35.
Once the Penn Theater is open again, what will it be used for?
According to Penn Theater Performance Company Buddy Thompson, there are a lot of ideas for events at the theater but community involvement will be at the core of anything that happens.
“Our plans so far are to take the upstairs theater, the smaller theater, and turn that into a black box theater,” Thompson said. “So we can have smaller events there; people can come in and rent it. Then downstairs as we move forward, we don’t want to be pigeon-holed into what we are doing but certainly we want the community to be able to use it.”