Mar 12, 2017 3 min read

The Coyle Theater, once a pillar of Charleroi’s business district, could be nearing its final act.

That was apparent after the Mon Valley Alliance, which now owns the building, gave area reporters a tour Thursday to look inside the 126-year-old theater that closed in 1999.

A sagging roof has allowed rainwater to pour into the 1,000-seat theater, causing significant damage to the balcony floor, a small stage at the front and plaster around the walls and ceiling that has fallen to the floor. A foot-and-a-half of water covers the basement.

“It’s too little, too late,” Charleroi Councilwoman Debbie Kruell-Buck suggested during the tour.

That might be a bit premature, despite its dilapidated state, but time is running out.

A recent legal battle ensued after the Alliance, formerly operating as Middle Monongahela Industrial Development Association, or MIDA, purchased the theater on McKean Avenue and two adjoining structures for $19,500 in December 2015. Charleroi Area Historical Society and two former trust members have appealed to Commonwealth Court on a claim the sale violated the nonprofit’s charter.

Since then, there seems to be no clear direction on what to do with the theater as the lawsuit and infighting in Charleroi overwhelm the project.

This is not to say the Coyle doesn’t have a chance of being restored and reopened one day. There have been other success stories.

The Lamp Theater in Irwin closed in 2005, but a determined group of volunteers, community groups and local government agencies raised funds and worked together to reopen it a decade later.

Also, the Denis Theatre in Mt. Lebanon is getting closer to reopening after it closed in 2004 and was slated for demolition to make way for other development in the township’s business district.

The community groups that embarked to save both of those historic theaters considered them to be linchpins of economic development in their towns. Most importantly, there was cooperation among groups and a clear set of goals.

A similar mindset is needed in Charleroi, but there are passionate opinions on both sides in the Mon Valley on whether the Coyle should be renovated or razed. Either option would be costly.

But without a clear objective, the Coyle will continue to decay and become even more costly to restore.

In the immediate future, the Mon Valley Alliance should consider removing artifacts from the movie house, such as the projectors and a few seats, to ensure some of the Coyle’s history is preserved.

It should also prioritize making essential repairs, such as patching the roof and stabilizing the building to minimize any further damage.

That would at least buy the Coyle Theater enough time to ward off Mother Nature and the wrecking ball until the legal battles are resolved and the community can come to a consensus on what to do.

If Mon Valley Alliance is unable to make incremental gains to preserve the building – and the tour last week seems to indicate it cannot – then it should consider handing the theater off to another organization.

There are no easy answers or solutions.

The peek inside the old movie house shows nearly two decades of neglect has taken its toll. There’s not a minute to spare, or the theater could be lost forever.