AT LAST. The first film to be shown in a several years, will be “True Grit” on Friday February 25. The Justin Bieber film will be on the next bill. As a senior citizen, I think I’ll skip that one. The 1st “Senior Wednesday” live show on Feb. 16th went very well, with the over ¾’s of the theatre seats sold.
Sorry Patsy, the Virtolite glass panels are gone. Except for the few above the main doors. Frank Versage told me that when he bought the theatre the glass panels were in bad shape, cracked, broken and pieces missing. Kids seemed to like breaking the panels they could reach. He also said he wanted to make the theatre his own by changing the look and the name from Farman to the Cinema. It was neccessary to remove everything to install the new stone facade. Also, the murals that were covered for many years with curtains have some water damage. It is hoped that they will be restored by a group like Buffalo State College that has an art conservation department.
I should have also reported that the previous owner, Frank Versage, passed away on August 10, 2010. He was 85 years old and had been living at the New York State Veterans Home in Batavia, New York. There was a nice story with photo about him in the Batavia Daily News, as well as an obituary. I had the pleasure of talking to him several times during the last remodeling of the theatre, what great stories he had. You can look up the article at www.thedailynewsonline.com
It looks like “The Stage” will reopen as a movie house very soon, they will be showing first run and classic films. They have installed a new state-of-the-art sound system. We wish them much luck with this latest venture.
The village bought the theater 20 years ago, a big mistake, as they never spent anything to maintain it. A state building inspector came to check it out so the village could get state funding and he fell thru the floor. It cost the New York state tax payers over 400 thousand dollars to tear it down. The facade was saved and a new structure is being built behind it for office or retail space.
I’ve heard that the owner, Paul Penner, is thinking about renting The Stage for film showings or other events. No offers were made to the realty company in the past year for the property.
That’s a great photo on the Box Office magazine cover. The maroon glass panels that covered the front of the building were removed during the remodeling in the 60’s. But, there is still a row of them left above your head as you stand in front of the doors.
The Stage is up for sale again by the Bid-N-Buy Realty company. There are a lot of photos of the theatre inside and out at www.picturesofthisproperty.com A complete offset print shop was donated to The Stage and placed in the basement. It was to be used for printing the programs and posters. The apartment above the lobby, where the former owner lived, was to be made into office space and dressing rooms.
AT LAST. The first film to be shown in a several years, will be “True Grit” on Friday February 25. The Justin Bieber film will be on the next bill. As a senior citizen, I think I’ll skip that one. The 1st “Senior Wednesday” live show on Feb. 16th went very well, with the over ¾’s of the theatre seats sold.
Sorry Patsy, the Virtolite glass panels are gone. Except for the few above the main doors. Frank Versage told me that when he bought the theatre the glass panels were in bad shape, cracked, broken and pieces missing. Kids seemed to like breaking the panels they could reach. He also said he wanted to make the theatre his own by changing the look and the name from Farman to the Cinema. It was neccessary to remove everything to install the new stone facade. Also, the murals that were covered for many years with curtains have some water damage. It is hoped that they will be restored by a group like Buffalo State College that has an art conservation department.
I should have also reported that the previous owner, Frank Versage, passed away on August 10, 2010. He was 85 years old and had been living at the New York State Veterans Home in Batavia, New York. There was a nice story with photo about him in the Batavia Daily News, as well as an obituary. I had the pleasure of talking to him several times during the last remodeling of the theatre, what great stories he had. You can look up the article at www.thedailynewsonline.com
It looks like “The Stage” will reopen as a movie house very soon, they will be showing first run and classic films. They have installed a new state-of-the-art sound system. We wish them much luck with this latest venture.
The village bought the theater 20 years ago, a big mistake, as they never spent anything to maintain it. A state building inspector came to check it out so the village could get state funding and he fell thru the floor. It cost the New York state tax payers over 400 thousand dollars to tear it down. The facade was saved and a new structure is being built behind it for office or retail space.
I’ve heard that the owner, Paul Penner, is thinking about renting The Stage for film showings or other events. No offers were made to the realty company in the past year for the property.
That’s a great photo on the Box Office magazine cover. The maroon glass panels that covered the front of the building were removed during the remodeling in the 60’s. But, there is still a row of them left above your head as you stand in front of the doors.
The Stage is up for sale again by the Bid-N-Buy Realty company. There are a lot of photos of the theatre inside and out at www.picturesofthisproperty.com A complete offset print shop was donated to The Stage and placed in the basement. It was to be used for printing the programs and posters. The apartment above the lobby, where the former owner lived, was to be made into office space and dressing rooms.
The Stage closed the end of November because of funding problems.