Harper family donates $70,000 for Lamp Theatre patio

A weed-filled space next to The Lamp Theatre in downtown Irwin will become a courtyard with table and chairs where patrons can relax and enjoy parties and performances, thanks to funding from a local family that owns automobile dealerships.

Casey and Cheryl Harper of North Huntingdon and their family have pledged $70,000 to the Lamp Theatre Corp. to build what will become the Harper Family Patio, John Gdula, president of the nonprofit Lamp Theatre board, said Wednesday in ceremonies thanking the family for their generosity.

“(Casey Harper) was one of the first to step forward to help complete the Lamp renovation. He was one of the visionaries. It was a leap of faith,” for him to make the donation at the time, Gdula said.

The Lamp was undergoing extensive renovations in 2014 and 2015 after being closed since 2004 and Harper donated $30,000 toward the project. The 80-year-old facility that reopened in November 2015 has become a busy 350-seat venue hosting concerts, plays and movies.

For his part, Harper said he wanted to provide the funding to help improve the community.

“I'm from the Irwin area, and I want to do a lot. This is very good for the community,” said Casey Harper, whose family owns dealerships in Rostraver and Jefferson Hills, Allegheny County. Harper has owned dealerships for about 45 years, he said.

“Their generosity will do a lot for us,” Irwin Borough Manager Mary Benko said.

John Cassandro, Irwin Borough Council president, said he admires what Harper has done for the community.

“There's not that many people who are so civic-minded,” said Cassandro, who also is general manager of the theater.

With the Harper family donation, Gdula said he is confident they can have the courtyard built and opened next year. Some additional money may be needed for landscaping and ornamental work, he said.

A committee of Lamp Theatre board members are discussing how to develop the courtyard, which had been the site of the Irwin Hotel until it was destroyed by a fire in March 2009. Gdula said he would like to see a courtyard that filled to the level of the concrete pad. Others have proposed a deck.

The courtyard will be unique in that it will include a 66-year-old stainless-steel diner, which now sits on a concrete foundation. The diner, which had been sitting unused at the Station Square shopping and entertainment complex in Pittsburgh before being moved to Irwin in April, has undergone some initial cleaning, Gdula said. Plans are to connect it to the theatre by cutting a hole in the wall and furnishing the diner with tables and chairs to serve as a lounge.

The walled-in and landscaped courtyard would stretch back more than 60 feet from Main Street, said James Halfhill, borough public works director. A wall at the rear of the courtyard would serve as a barrier for what the Lamp officials hope is the future home of a multilevel performing arts center, Halfhill said.

“You'll sit in the courtyard and, hopefully, see a building there one day,” Halfhill said.

The performing arts center, estimated to cost $1.2 million, is the centerpiece of the third phase of the renovation project, Gdula said.

“It's just one more chapter in the Lamp renovation and downtown Irwin revitalization,” he said of the Harpers' pledge.

Joe Napsha is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 724-836-5252 or jnapsha@tribweb.com.