WORK BEGINS ON MIDTOWN ARTS CENTER AT FORMER ‘PAL BUILDING’
Harrisburg, PA – Mayor Stephen R. Reed and developer Bartlett, Traynor and London, LLC, today announced that work has begun on the conversion of the former PAL (Police Athletic League) Building located at 1110 North 3rd Street to be the new Midtown Arts Center.
Extensive planning and efforts have been made to provide the residents of Harrisburg and the surrounding communities with yet another successful cultural development within the City of Harrisburg. The structure will be totally renovated back to its original grandeur inside and out.
The complex will include an array of operations, including: the new Harrisburg Film Office; a full-service café, gallery, and studios; a chemical-free swimming pool with saunas, steam rooms and hot tubs for seniors and adults; and a 10,000 square foot theater on the second level with a large industrial kitchen to serve the new playhouse and to host major events, banquets and meetings. There will be a separate smaller theater measuring 3,500 square feet to accommodate smaller audiences for theater and stand-up comedy. There will also be studio spaces for professional artists to work in and sell their wares.
Total project costs are estimated at $1.25 million and as many as 25 employees will be hired as staff for the facility’s multiple operations.
The Midtown Arts Center will be in the large structure formerly known as the PAL Building. Its original part was built in the mid-1800’s as a three-story mansion. After the turn of the 20th Century, it housed the Harrisburg YMHA and YWHA.
The building was enlarged when a major new brick structure was added behind and to the sides of the original mansion and dedicated in 1931 as the Jewish Community Center of Harrisburg. Its later use as the PAL Building ended a quarter century ago when the facility closed. It has not been used since.
Reed said the structure would have collapsed by now had the city not stepped in during the late-1980’s to acquire it and later do stabilization work, including the installation of a new roof and spouts which prevented the structure from deterioration. The city had saved the building "for precisely the kind of project now being announced," Reed said.
The project is the brainchild of Gary Bartlett, John Traynor and Chuck London, owners of Bartlett, Traynor & London, LLC who said they intend to restore the complex to "its full brilliance as a delightful center of arts, entertainment, relaxation, inspiration and commerce."
Project components include:
_ Café Sip, on the ground floor, as a place where artists, visitors and the public can relax and commune. This will be a full-service restaurant that will also have a professional catering kitchen to serve large events held in the Center.
_ The new Harrisburg Film Office, on the ground floor, which will be home to a full AVID edit on-line, 3-D graphic facility to serve professional producers and film students and to promote the city and region as an ideal location for TV and film location shoots. The Film Office will promote the inherent beauty and amenities of Harrisburg as a valuable backdrop and location for the motion picture industry. The Film Office will also offer location management and other services to the film industry.
_ From the main lobby area on the ground floor, visitors can enter the 2,500 square foot Art Gallery space for the exhibition of local and imported art collections and artists. They will be able to expand to over 10,000 square feet for larger shows, by incorporating, on a modular basis, utilizing the playhouse space above. They will also host shows of national and international artists working closely with all of Harrisburg’s local organizations to put a calendar year full of events that reflect and support this vibrant community.
_ In support of the artists, the Sketch Studios just behind the center gallery space will be leased studio spaces for professional artists of all mediums. The artists will be able to produce and sell their works of art on-site.
_ On the lower level, also accessed from Susquehanna Street, will be the fully restored and renovated art deco chemical-free pool and space including men’s and women’s saunas, steam rooms, and hot tubs, totaling over 10,000 square feet. The Center’s Splash Swim Club will offer membership to seniors and adults and also visitor passes.
_ On the second floor, accessible from the main lobby entrance and separate entrances, will be the new Harrisburg Playhouse and Events Center. This restored and upgraded 10,000 square feet of space will be home to music, dance, theatrical events, film screenings, private events, meetings and banquets, serviced by their full industrial kitchen area. There will also be a cozy VIP balcony area, complete with chairs and sofas, and a bar, for small groups to rent during performances.
Craig Adler of Adler & Adler Law Firm is the project attorney.
Reed and John Traynor, principal for the development team on the project, said the Harrisburg Midtown Arts Center will be holding an array of theatrical and performance events and that a nationally-acclaimed advisory committee has been named to assist the Center in fulfilling this potential. They include:
_ Jeff Daniels, actor, writer and singer known for his roles in "Gettysburg", "The Purple Rose of Cairo," "Pleasantville," and founder and executive director of The Purpose Rose Theater Company;
_ Lanford Wilson, Pulitzer Prize winning playwright, whose plays have been performed around the world and include "Talley’s Folley" and "The Hot I Baltimore";
_ William Hoffman, playwright and author of "As Is" and the acclaimed Metropolitan Opera Production, "The Ghost of Versailles";
_ Tanya Berezin, Obie Award winning actress and acting coach who has been featured in more than 25 feature films and TV series and who co-founded the Circle Repertory Company in New York City and is now an acting teacher and coach in Los Angeles;
_ Debra Monk, Tony Award winning actress who recently starred in the Broadway production, "Curtains."
Reed said the Harrisburg Midtown Arts Center "is truly an exciting project. It advances the city and Midtown as an arts and cultural center, further positioning North Third Street as an arts corridor. It represents the increased national attention that Harrisburg’s resurgence is gaining."
Traynor said, "Our enthusiasm is most appreciatively matched by the expressed anticipation of both the Mayor and the community. We hope to serve all profit and non-profit entities interested in utilizing our facility and encourage them to reach the highest peak of creativity within our walls. Our commitment is to provide quality, consistent and impeccable excitement from the planning stages of an event to the fall of the curtain."
Gary Bartlett stated, "We look to make this new landmark center something that makes all residents of Harrisburg proud. We are equally as committed as Mayor Reed to see Midtown continue to transform, adapt and succeed in providing the lifestyle and services to match the quality of city life in Harrisburg. In the end, it is our goal to contribute to and become an integral part of the city’s vision. Mayor Reed has made tremendous strides in combining art and cultural facilities and events with the city’s renewal, and we are dedicated to doing our part to further develop the expansion of projects. We thank all for their continued support."
Gary Bartlett, John Traynor & Chuck London, have extensive backgrounds in successful arts and commercial undertakings, which are fully explained at their website. For more information, up-to-date construction/renovation photos or to contact John Traynor, please visit www.harrisburgarts.com.
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