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State grant benefits North Side theater
The theater, built originally as a Carnegie Music Hall in 1889, has been empty since 1999 when the Pittsburgh Public Theater relocated to the larger O'Reilly Theater, Downtown. The Hazlett is owned by the city.
"There also has been a great deal of support in the community for the theater to be reopened," said Jane Werner, executive director of the Children's Museum. "And we've invested $28 million in improvements to the museum, so having a vacant building next door just didn't make sense."
A nonprofit -- the New Hazlett Center for the Performing Arts -- was created to refurbish and operate the theater in Allegheny Center. The group is composed of representatives from the Children's Museum, which will handle financing; the Andy Warhol Museum, which will be responsible for marketing and public relations; and the Northside Leadership Conference, which will assist with raising money.
The URA voted unanimously to obtain a $1 million grant from the state Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program. An additional $1.3 million has been raised from four local foundations -- the Heinz Endowments, the R.K. Mellon Foundation, the Grable Foundation, and a anonymous foundation, Werner said.
Work, which is scheduled to begin in October and last through January, will include making the building, which can seat between 300 and 500 patrons, accessible to people with physical disabilities.
The sound and lighting system will be upgraded and improvements will be made to the backstage area, the lobby and the ticket office.
Groups already lined up to perform in the theater include Prime Stage, Attack Theater and the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble. The Warhol and Children's Theater also plan to use the venue for programs and might eventually collaborate on shows, Werner said.
Deborah McClain, executive director of the Northside Leadership Conference, said the theater's reopening will help revitalize the surrounding business district.
"The restaurants on James and East Ohio streets counted on theater patrons before and after the shows for a good deal of their business," she said. "The Hazlett is an important part of the whole fabric of this community. Having it reopened is an exciting step in helping to revitalize the neighborhood."
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