An online fundraiser has launched to turn the movie house into a performing arts center.
If the show is to go on in Washington, it will need the community's help.
A recently launched online fundraiser seeks $50,000 to help turn the shuttered Washington Theatre from a movie house to a performing arts center.
"We are hoping to inspire our youth through the wonders of the arts and provide a venue for the people of Washington and the surrounding areas to enjoy the arts in a comfortable and community based setting," Jay Arrington says in the GoFundMe drive.
Arrington's non-profit Poetry Emotion Productions is taking over the 90-year-old building in the center of the borough and make it the Cultural & Performing Arts Centre at the Washington Theatre. The goal is for the center to host musical and theatrical performances and classes, all while reaching out to the community for input and partnerships.
"Though ambitious," he continues, "we welcome the challenge and are seeking assistance from those with an altruistic spirit."
Arrington -- an author, educator and playwright -- said he moved from Passaic, New Jersey, to the borough so he could oversee the project. His group was to sign the building's lease this weekend, according to a Facebook post.
Previous efforts have failed to restore the theater at the corner of Routes 57 and 31, which has been closed more than a year. Demolition was considered in 2014.
But the building's owners have said they like the vision of the new group.
"We feel that the benefit to the community is grand enough to justify the effort," said Dennis Shuman, one of the property owners, when plans were announced last fall. "It will bring the community not only together, but bring the quality of the community up."
FIND OUT MORE
You can find out more about the Cultural & Performing Arts Centre at the Washington Theatre by following them on Facebook or Twitter, or emailing cpacatthewashingtontheatre@gmail.com.
Steve Novak may be reached at snovak@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @type2supernovak. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.