Officials have said that it will cost $80,000 to $100,000 to get into compliance.
Now that the donated seats from the Music Hall have been installed, about 80 to 100 pair are available for $100 per pair, Brodsky said. There are about 400 grey seats from the movie theater available and they’re $15 each or $10 each if 10 or more are purchased, she said.
Seats will be sold from 11 a.m to 4 p.m. Saturday at the Sorg, 63 S. Main St.
After the seats were installed in the main theater and the balcony, it created “such a historic feel,” Brodsky said.
The seats, she said, are another step in turning the Sorg “into what it will be, not what it can be.”
Then she added: “It will be something spectacular.”
Renovating the 125-year-old Sorg fits perfectly into the revitalization of downtown, which is becoming an arts and entertainment destination, she said.
“The Sorg with its place in history, and what it has brought to Middletown, some people may not think of it as an anchor, but I do,” Brodsky said. “It will be an anchor.”
The opera house once was listed on the endangered list by the Ohio Historical Society. The goal, Brodsky said, is to eliminate the word “endangered.”
That, of course, will take money.
The Middletown Community Foundation recently awarded 12 grants totalling more than $70,000, according to its executive director, T. Duane Gordon. Of that, $5,000 was awarded to the Sorg as a matching grant, he said.
Gordon said the opera house has the potential to once again be “a showcase for our community.”
Once the improvements are made, and the opera house re-opens, that will generate more interest and use, which should help them raise additional funds for completing repairs, he said.
“This project is a huge undertaking, so the very dedicated volunteers helping bring it back to life are working one step at a time to restore this former gem,” Gordon said.
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