All the while, the 135-year-old opera house has remained open to patrons and visitors.
“I think we spent a lot of time and effort in the theater and just stabilized the building as a whole,” said Larry Mulligan, board member and secretary of the Sorg Opera Revitalization Group. “A lot of patrons that have come through have seen the progress as a balancing act ... so we can still program things for the community and have a working theater while also making those improvements.”
Stepping in to the opera house, visitors will find bright, white flooring, soon to be installed flat-screen television marquees to the left and an overhead stained glass light fixture. Another identical fixture will soon be installed near the entrance.
The walls are the same, though, and scraped down to their original form — layers and years of paint on enamel steel panels made by Armco in the 1950s were chipped off bit by bit by volunteers, turning the walls from a deep red to light gray with white speckles.
The ceiling has also been replaced with pewter-colored, tin ceiling tiles. A new bar, fresh coat of paint and overhead lighting has been added to the concession area. The box office has been moved further down the hallway to avoid a bottleneck when patrons file in.
“Some of the (improvements) aren’t seen,” Mulligan said, referencing the roof work that has been completed.
Credit: Nick Graham
Credit: Nick Graham
The Sorg Opera Revitalization Group, the force behind revitalization, relies on about 100 volunteers for nearly 100% of its operations, besides contractors hired for construction and sound, tech, and talent brought in.
Mulligan himself works full time as a music teacher and volunteers his time on the revitalization group’s board and runs social media and marketing.
“Everyone’s grown up around it,” he said. “I think (the volunteers) all want it to remain in the community.”
Renovations began soon after the organization’s creation in 2012, and the group has repaired the opera house’s roof, bathroom and HVAC system, updated theater rigging and curtain, stage resurfacing, and added waterproofing, water heaters and furnace in the basement.
Renovations are seemingly never ending, Mulligan said, and the price tag to complete renovations “keeps changing.”
“It feels like a moving goal line all the time,” he said. “Rising construction cots, cost of labor, inflation ... you can have different answers from one contractor to another. It’s a very massive undertaking to renovate historic areas because sometimes you don’t know what you’re going to find behind the wall, so I can’t really put a number on that.”
“It’s a priceless treasure, so it deserves the best of what we can do.”
Renovations completed have managed to make the opera house feel both modern and old world.
The basement under the stage has received a new sump pump, waterproofing, electrical upgrades and a drop panel ceiling. Eventually, functional changing rooms and prep space will be added to the area.
Looking forward, the revitalization group will seek additional historic grants from the state.
“(The grants) are really effective for communities like Middletown,” Mulligan said.
Fundraising at the community level and soliciting sponsorships from local businesses and corporations is also a goal.
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