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Irwin's 'Lamp Theatre' Manager to Give Presentation

The Charleroi Area Historical Society is excited to welcome guest speaker John Cassandra, Manager of the Lamp Theatre in Irwin at its September 18 program meeting.

In 1937 the Lamp Theatre opened in downtown Irwin and for nearly seven decades entertained the residents of Irwin borough. However, in 2004 the Lamp had succumbed to the financial pressure brought on by corporate theater chains and closed its doors.

Following the closure of the Lamp Theatre, The Westmoreland Cultural Trust took ownership of the Theatre and put plans in motion to re-open The Lamp as a performing art center and movie theater.
But on March 5th of 2009 the Irwin Hotel, which sat in the neighboring lot since 1885, had a grease fire that blazed through the 124 year old building and caused damage to the Lamp Theatre, which put plans to reopen on hold.

Not long after, a small but dedicated group of people joined together to form the 'Relight the Lamp Committee' to help raise funds to maintain and re-open the Lamp. In March of 2013 the Theatre was sold to the borough of Irwin with a whopping price tag of $1.00. The Irwin Project, a non-profit dedicated to the betterment of Irwin, then became the fundraising arm of the project

Volunteers from Irwin and the surrounding area began demolition on the interior of the Theatre. From this point The Lamp had over 300 volunteers who worked tirelessly for over 3000 hours to finish the Theatre.

Almost two years later, in August of 2015 The Lamp re-opened its doors with comedians Ryan Ben and Adam Schreck performing a mix of sketches and improv. During this year of “soft open” The Lamp has entertained thousands of patrons as volunteers continued to work diligently to finish the work left over from its major renovations. August 27th of 2016 marked the Grand Opening of a fully renovated Theatre with the return of A Hard Days Night, a Beatles Tribute.

Come and hear John Cassandra fill in the parts of the story which led up to the re-opening of the theatre and the current success the Lamp is experiencing.

Looking ahead to October 23's program: Members of Washington Co.'s own National Duncan Glass Society and Museum tell the story about George Duncan and Duncan & Miller glass. Mark your calendars now.

The Charleroi Area Historical Society programs are held in Riverside Place in the SPHS Center, Chamber Plaza across the RR tracks in Charleroi. Doors open at 6:30 PM. The program begins at 7 PM with light refreshments. Admission is free to everyone.

For more information, call the Society at its historical headquarters, the Gaoziou Print Shop, 807 Fallowfield Ave. at 724-483-4961

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