SHARON, PA. Bids to be sought for old theater

The theater will be put up for sale soon and anyone can make a bid.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR SHARON BUREAU
SHARON, Pa. -- A spokesman for Columbia Theatre Inc. said there's no hidden agenda to keep singer Tony Butala from gaining control of the theater.
Butala will be given the same opportunity as anyone else to bid on the building, which will be put up for sale in the near future, said Atty. Richard Epstein, a member of the theater's board.
Butala, a Sharon native and a member of The Lettermen singing group, said he's already tried to buy the building but the board refused his offer.
Butala said he made a $10,000 offer to cover the estimated $8,500 debt the board has and had a $100 check as a down payment sent with that offer.
Epstein said the offer was really an agreement only to assume the debts of the board up to a maximum of $10,000. The debt is believed to be somewhat higher than that, but the amount is "in the ballpark," he said.
There have been other expressions of interest in the building from some who may or may not use it as a theater. The board feels the fairest way to sell it is to open it to any and all bidders, he added.
The board is interested in a firm cash offer, not a proposal to pay off the debt, Epstein said.
Accordingly, the board has decided it will take sealed bids on the West State Street theater, he said.
The board will publish a notice announcing the sale and inviting bids, Epstein said, adding that Butala will be able to submit a bid at that time.
The plan is to get fair market value for the building, he said, adding that he doesn't know what that might be.
Where money would go
Sale proceeds would first be used to pay off debt. Any money left over would be channeled into the organization's theatrical programming, he said.
Butala, co-founder of the nonprofit Vocal Group Hall of Fame & amp; Museum on East State Street, said the theater could be linked with the Hall of Fame, providing a ready site for concerts and other performances.
He said he's already lined up a number of nationally known musical acts ready to put on benefit concerts to help raise money to renovate the theater.
The theater has been closed since its entryway was destroyed in a 1981 fire. Butala already bought it once, securing title at a Mercer County tax sale in 1984.
He turned it over to Columbia Theatre Inc., a nonprofit group put together to get the theater restored, for $1.
The theater suffered from years of lack of heat and a leaking roof that destroyed most of its ornate plaster interior and did other damage.
Columbia Theatre Inc. was able to raise enough money to put about $1 million in restoration work into the structure but said another $6 million would be needed to complete the task.
Efforts to raise that money were unsuccessful and the group announced last year it was abandoning the restoration effort and would try to sell the building, concentrating instead on the theatrical programming it had begun to offer in the Shenango Valley.
Butala said the group should accept his offer and give him a chance to get the theater reopened.
gwin@vindy.com