BROOKVILLE — An initiative to put Brookville’s historic Marlin Opera House back on the map as a local event venue is gaining traction.
Kristie Taylor, who serves as chairman of the committee, said, “The work is being driven by the owners, a few theatre- and history-loving Brookville residents and Historic Brookville Inc. (HBI) to bring new life to one of Brookville’s hidden treasures.”
The Marlin Opera House is located on the second floor of the Marlin Opera House Block, on Main Street, directly across from the Historic Brookville Town Square.
Historian David Taylor said, “The building was constructed between 1883 and 1886 by Col. Silas J. Marlin, a Civil War veteran who made his fortune in lumber, as did many during this era. Col. Marlin died within three years of the completion of the building, and for the next 15 years, the Opera House was managed by his son, Silas, Jr. It closed shortly after the turn of the 20th century, the last documented performance during its historic period having taken place in 1907.”
Taylor said, “In the 1920s, the building was sold to several of the building’s retail tenants, and over the years, with the passing of time, the ownership became vested in these first tenants’ heirs. When pharmacist Regis McCabe and his wife Phyllis acquired the building in the early 1980s, it took more than 50 deeds to close the deal. Following the death of the McCabes, the building passed to their daughter, Kathy, who is a board member of HBI.”
Taylor said the last production in the opera house “was about 15 years ago, but we got shut down due to insurance issues,” dealing with access to the facility.
Taylor said restoring the opera house “is not going to happen over night. We think it is a gem. It will be a multi-million dollar project, a complete restoration, with an elevator, approved exits, mechanical systems, everything.” He is looking at a three- to five-year timeline for the project to be completed.
“We think with good marketing, a restored venue could be used for weddings, for productions, for buses who would bring people up from Pittsburgh to see it,” Taylor said. ”It is not a movie house, it is the original thing. It could be a destination site.”
“This Marlin’s Opera House is a hidden treasure, a second-floor that has been around for almost a century and a half, in such really preserved condition,” Congressman Glenn “GT” Thompson said when he visited the opera house last year. “It needs a little love and investment, but I can see some amazing performances here, which would be great to draw people into town, a nice continuation of the investments that have already happened in Brookville and Jefferson County. It’s exciting.”
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