Nonprofit hopes to breathe new life into Latrobe's Mozart Hall
A faith-based human services provider is looking to revive a landmark building on Latrobe's Main Street that has been home to live performances and restaurants since its twin onion domes became a part of the town's skyline in the late 1800s.
Nonprofit Faith Forward Ministries, which recently purchased Mozart Hall, operates an activity center in one of the historic building's street-level storefronts and is hoping to attract a tenant to relaunch a restaurant in the other.
Executive Director Dawn Hennessey said Faith Forward rented space in Mozart Hall after outgrowing a nearby location. “When we found out that we could possibly purchase it, we thought it was a win-win situation for us and the community,” she said.
The group is working with the Latrobe Community Revitalization Program, which received a $15,000 grant from the Community Foundation of Westmoreland County to begin preservation and stabilization of the building. Jarod Trunzo, executive director of the program, said state grants that cover a portion of facade improvements on commercial buildings will be tapped to assist with the first phase of the planned restoration.
He said work will begin by early summer and will include sprucing up the first floor of the front facade and repointing brick and mortar on the rear wall.
Trunzo said the foundation grant and Faith Forward's involvement were “the catalyst that was needed” to ensure continued life for Mozart Hall. “There is a substantial amount of work to do over the next several years,” he said.
Facade grants of up to $5,000 for each side of the building may be available, Trunzo said, indicating the group is seeking additional construction funds.
Hennessey said the restoration is “not going to happen overnight. One of our first priorities is getting that restaurant going,” which would generate some income.
“There is a stage and a theater upstairs,” she said. “We do plan to renovate that and give it back to the community to use. We're excited about that.”
Trunzo is working with Faith Forward and the Latrobe Area Historical Society to document the building in the hope of having it placed on the National Register of Historic Places. Hennessey said that could open more grant opportunities.
Mozart Hall was built in 1890 by George Seiler in a style influenced by opera houses in Germany. He named it after the famous composer who hailed from the same German town as Seiler's immigrant parents.
Over the years, the first floor has housed numerous businesses. The second floor features a large hall where concerts and musicals and operettas were staged. When such entertainment lost its broad appeal in the 20th century, the hall was home to other activities — town meetings, dances, YWCA and Girl Scout programs and a community center — before it fell into disuse.
Trunzo hopes the work to bring life back to Mozart Hall will “bring attention to this one-of-a-kind building, help stabilize this area of Main Street, attract more investment and increase adjacent property values.”
“We don't believe another building of this exact kind exists in the United States. There is a general sense that it is one of downtown Latrobe's more unique assets,” he said
A block south on Main, a veteran of local theater says he's closing in on his goal of reopening the former Manos Theater movie house, more recently an athletic club, as a performing arts center and base for his theatrical production group, The Cabaret Theatre. One stumbling block remains, he said: Raising enough money to install the required sprinkler system.
“As soon as we tie down enough money to put that system in, we're about four months away from opening,” said John Carosella of Hempfield, who purchased the three-story building in August 2015. He estimated it could cost $118,000 or more to get the sprinklers in place. The first step, running a new 6-inch water supply line from the street, has been completed, he said.
Carosella had been producing theatrical presentations at the nearby Latrobe Art Center. For now, he said, additional plays are on hiatus.
In Scottdale, the 119-year-old Geyer Performing Arts Center, renovated beginning in 1987, is holding its own as a home for local theatrical productions. But theater manager Tyler Handford of Connellsville said there is some concern the building has shifted since a neighboring vacant structure recently was demolished. So far, problems have been limited to planing off the edges of doors that wouldn't open properly.
If the building continues to settle, he noted, the foundation may need to be addressed.
Handford said the theater is looking for grant dollars to help purchase a $25,000 LED marquee to replace its outdated, water-damaged sign.
The renovated 80-year-old Lamp Theatre in Irwin is thriving once more, reopening in November 2015 following a decade of silence. Operations manager William Elder said a new $45,000 digital projector will soon allow the theater to resume screening films. “We'll be showing B-run movies and older movies for a niche market. We don't want to compete with Carmike Cinemas.”
The Irwin theater's latest venture is moving a former diner from Pittsburgh to an adjacent lot to serve food. Officials hope to have it ready for patrons this summer.
Jeff Himler is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 724-836-6622 or jhimler@tribweb.com.
