With the help of the Emerald Hook and Ladder, secrets of the Wellsville theatre are being revealed
Wednesday May 6th public meeting will feature Alfred State students vision
By Kathryn Ross
WELLSVILLE – “It’s our busy season,” Barry Glickstein chair of the Babcock Theater Preservations Society recently told the village board.
What Glickstein was referring to is a public program scheduled from 4 to 6 p.m. May 6th at the Creative Arts Center on Main Street when designs rendered by Alfred State College architectural students will be unveiled. For the last several weeks students have been working on conceptual designs for the interior and exterior of the 106-year-old Babcock theatre.
Late last year, BTPS member Chaz LaGreca contacted the heads of the Architectural Design class, Matt Dirado and Beth Joyce, to see if they would be interested in looking at the theater. They both attended a BTPS meeting. Earlier this spring 18 students from the class toured the facility and Dirado and a student filmed a video of the interior. Since then, the students have been working on their interior and exterior designs. Wednesday those designs will be unveiled.
The public is invited to come to the unveiling where they will help decide the best design. LaGreca explained attendees will be given a movie ticket to vote for their favorite design. At the end of the event the tickets will be counted and the design with the most votes wins. The student designer will be awarded a $100 cash prize that night.
“It’s a great way to reward the student and get the public involved,” LaGreca said.
While the designs may not actually be utilized by the BTPS in the renovation project because of the group’s dedication to the historic preservation of the theater, it’s a good way to gather ideas, a BTPS member cautioned.
The BTPS is also sponsoring free Puppet Making Workshops for the public. The first one takes place May 16th in the Monday Club Room at the David A. Library. Those attending will learn how to make giant puppets to be part of the Balloon Rally and Christmas parades. Workshops will continue through October.
On June 7th the Second Annual Reel Pulled Pork Dinner will be served from noon to 2 p.m. at the Duke Hose Company at 80 Stevens Street. Proceeds from this drive-through event will benefit the Babcock project. Tickets are $15 and may be purchased from BTPS members or at Harts Jewelry, From the Hart, The Wellsville Brewery and L’Italia.
For up-to-date information, historic footnotes and old photos of the theater go to www.babcocktheater.org or to Babcock Theater on Facebook.
