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Back to Facade and Feasibility Study Stanly News and Press
Janu Week before
Valentine’s Day Dance to benefit Albemarle Opera House
In its first effort
to raise money, the Albemarle Opera House Board of Trustees will sponsor a
“Week Before Valentine’s Day Dance” Friday, Feb 7, at 8pm in the lobby of
the Agri-Civic Center in Albemarle. Featured
entertainment will be the band Gallery, playing beach music, top 40’s, and big
band music. Tickets, at a cost of
$12.50 including hors d’oeuvres, are available at the Agri-Civic Center and at
Starnes Jewelers, 127 West Main Street, Albemarle.
Setups will also be available at the dance. “We are nearing the end of
the feasibility study to see if our ideas about restoring the old Opera House
and re-adapting it as a children’s cultural arts center are doable,” said
Mary C. Coyle, chairman, Albemarle Opera House Board of Trustees.
“At this point we need to raise money to pay the consultants who are
conducting the study. We’ve been
operating with basically no money except for a small grant, with most of the
work being done by an enthusiastic group of local citizens who want to see this
dream happen. We’re excited that
we’ve had such positive comments from the consultants so far and we are ready
to move ahead with the next phase. The
dance will be a really fun way to have a great evening and support this
community project.” Built in 1907, the Albemarle Opera House attracted people for miles around to view plays, concerts, traveling minstrel shows and vaudeville. Upstairs over the Starnes Jewelers on Main Street, the Opera House remains today, unused for many years. The building is structurally sound but needs extensive renovation. The board hopes to develop a children’s cultural arts center in the renovated space, which would also house Stanly County’s new children’s cultural arts group, the Imagination Factory. |