NEW CASTLE —
A different future had been anticipated for downtown New Castle.
“Things should have been done differently,” said Jerry Kern, who heads Cascade Theater Preservation Group and Warner Film Center at the Cascade Theater, a non-profit corporation that planned the development.
“We were never as active as we should have been.”
A movie buff, Kern knew that Harry, Albert, and Sam Warner, who then lived in Youngstown, Ohio, entered the entertainment world when they rented a copy of the 1903 western “The Great Train Robbery.” Only 12 minutes long, this black and white silent film was an instant sensation.
The brothers showed the film at fairs and in store fronts of mill towns across western Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio, before deciding life on the road was not for them. They decided to find a permanent theater. Their father, the story goes, advised them to open in the town were they made the most money.
On Feb. 7,1907, they opened their first permanent theater — a nickelodeon — on the second floor of the Neisner building on Mill Street, using folding chairs borrowed from a local funeral home. Ultimately, they operated a multi-plex of three theaters at the site, two nickelodeons and a vaudeville-style theater.
In time, however, they learned the money in the movie business was to be made in distributing, not showing films. They sold their theater to a brother-in-law and relocated to Pittsburgh. Later, they focused on making the films, relocating to the southwest where weather rarely changed. Younger brother Jack Warner went on to make and market movies in Hollywood.
But as the brothers prospered, New Castle went into decline and the Neisner building deteriorated.
In 1991, Harry Warner's granddaughter, Cass, published a book — “Hollywood Be Thy Name” — which told the story of the movie makers. The following year, Cass Warner appeared at a book-signing in Pittsburgh. Kern, his copy of the tome in hand, stood in line for an autograph. When his turn came, he opened the book, showing Cass a photo of the crumbling facade of an old brick building.
"Should I know this?" she asked.
He closed the book. Its dust cover revealed her uncles standing at their first box office under an identical archway.
“This is that building today,” he told her. He also said the building was slated to be demolished and asked her to help preserve it.
SEEKING HELP
Kern had purchased the then L-shaped Neisner building that surrounded the newer Centennial building that stood at the corner of East Washington and Mill streets for $25,000. He believed the building, with its connections to the Warners, was historically significant and should be preserved.
And he converted to his crusade local developer Tom George who was then beginning to acquire downtown properties.
Although George’s plan generated excitement, challenges arose almost from the start. The Centennial building which remains tied up in lawsuits was not acquired until April 27, 1998. Other difficulties included resolving more structural problems than anticipated. Most notably, on Feb. 24, 1996, the East Washington Street facade of the Neisner building collapsed, the result of built-up ice and snow.
Through a partnership with the city, the Warner Bros. Corp. and the developers each contributed $150,000 to stabilize the building. The city’s contribution was obtained through state funding. The state also provided the nonprofit with a $35,000 planning grant to develop the concept.
THE PLAN
Cass Warner put Kern and George in touch with Utah-based developer Latent S.E.A. LLC which helped them to conceptualize a one-of-a-kind monument to the Warners.
The plan, filled with movie memorabilia, envisioned drawing an estimated 57,000 visitors in the first year — each paying a $10 admission charge — and 73,000 visitors by year three, generating business, taxes and jobs.
In time, Kern said, the developers’ contributions served as local match money bringing $22 million in state funds, which was used for infrastructure improvements in the downtown. Kern said this resulted in additional private money being invested in the downtown.
(Email: nlowry@ncnewsonline.com)
TOP STORIES
Inactivity of Warner project may have signed its death warrant
- TOP STORIES
-
-
Want to keep a pit bull in Bessemer? Fork over $10,000
It will cost you more than $10,000 to keep a pit bull in Bessemer, starting July 1. Bessemer Borough Council unanimously revised its 25-year-old pit bull ordinance at a special meeting this week, updating fees to reflect current costs.
-
Audit: Children of New Castle school employees didn’t pay tuiton
The Pennsylvania auditor general’s office has determined that seven non-resident students went to district schools but did not pay tuition over the course of four years. Now, the district will have to repay more than $100,000 to state.
-
Vo-tech budget an issue for interim director
The first order of business for the new vo-tech school interim director may be to address the 2013-14 budget. The Lawrence County Career and Technical Center’s spending plan must be passed by at least six school boards in the county and a majority of the 72 members on the eight school boards in the county must vote yes.
-
Warner Theater Project: That’s not all, folks
Through the magic of the movies, visitors to the Warner Film Center may soon be transported through time and space. “Our plan is to take visitors from modern times back to 1907 — the year the Warner brothers opened their first theater in New Castle,” explained John L. “Jack” Oberleitner, a trustee of the Warner Film Center and in charge of development of the planned Warner Movie Palace at Cascade Center at the Riverplex.
-
Warner Theater Project: The man behind the scenes
Jack Oberleitner has been involved in the movie business since 1959. Beginning as an usher at the former Victor Theater in New Castle, he worked his way into management and theater chain ownership, participating in restoration and reopenings of more than a dozen theaters.
-
Tommelleo resigns, Ionta named interim director at vo-tech
The Lawrence County Career and Technical Center has a new interim director. Domenic J. Ionta was named to the post Thursday night to lead the school while it searches for a permanent executive director.
-
Photo Gallery, Story: Tortured kitten on the road to recovery
When Rebecca Smith first saw Oscar, he was a little ball of orange and white fur. The Morris Street resident befriended the kitten, his mother and two siblings, feeding them at their home under the porch of a vacant house in her neighborhood.
-
Man sentenced in robbery of legislator
State Rep. Jaret Gibbons praised law enforcement officers for prosecution of a man who had robbed the legislator last year. A Dauphin County judge sentenced Donnie Dozier, 42, to 12 to 30 years in prison under a plea deal Tuesday for robbing Gibbons and two staff members the night of March 12, 2012, in downtown Harrisburg.
-
Pain doctor’s trial gets under way
An attorney defending a pain management doctor claims his client dispensed prescriptions within the parameters of the law. A Pennsylvania attorney general’s deputy said she intends to prove that 61-year-old Dr. Van Edward Scott had prescribed powerful and highly addictive drugs to at least eight patients in Lawrence County and that he prescribed the drugs to three patients who were drug-dependent.
-
IU IV director racked up thousands on credit card
Cecelia H. Yauger’s credit card expenses started growing three months after she was named Midwestern Intermediate Unit IV’s executive director.
- More TOP STORIES Headlines
-
