WHEELING - After allowing community leaders a sneak peak at more than $1 million worth of upgrades last month, officials at the Capitol Theatre will now open the venue for the general public.
The free open house is set for 4-6 p.m. Friday, during which time viewers will be able to see the new $450,000 fire escape and $153,353 elevator, among other improvements.
"Anybody who wants to see the theater can come on in," said Frank O'Brien, who serves as executive director for the Wheeling-Ohio County Convention and Visitors Bureau, which owns the Capitol. "We will be more than happy to give tours."
West Virginia state Sen. Jack Yost, D-Brooke, will be on hand during the open house to present a $10,000 state grant, which O'Brien said will be used to help install new lighting in the second-floor ballroom.
In addition to the fire escape leading down to the Wheeling Heritage Trail and elevator leading up to the ballroom, the upgrades include $374,372 worth of handicapped-accessible restrooms and a $65,718 concession stand. The elevator, concession stand and restrooms lie in the space once home to the Capitol gift shop, while the new fire stairs replace the narrow, rusted escape that officials removed earlier this year.
Also, O'Brien is looking for volunteers to help clean the ballroom from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday. Following the cleanup, officials hope more volunteers will assist in painting the ballroom from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sept. 25.
"We had so much success with the volunteers last year," he said when folks showed up to help prepare for the theater's reopening. "We would love to have them again, and some new people as well."
Cleaning and painting supplies, as well as a light lunch, will be provided during the sessions.
O'Brien's group bought the Capitol from LiveNation for $615,000 last year. Under the operating arrangement, the bureau owns the Capitol, while the Greater Wheeling Sports and Entertainment Authority manages and books events for the venue.
Wheeling City Council last year directed $396,000 in federal Community Development Block Grant to the Capitol for new handicapped-accessible restrooms.
O'Brien has said the bureau provided all other funding for the Capitol projects. The organization receives funding from locally generated hotel/motel taxes.
LiveNation closed the Capitol in May 2007 when Wheeling firefighters expressed 23 fire code concerns at the theater, including the lack of adequate sprinkler systems and fire escapes. Since then, O'Brien's bureau has spent $367,000 to install a new sprinkler system and $147,000 to install alarms and emergency lighting. Now, 674 sprinkler sprinkler heads, 3.6 miles of pipe, 80 smoke detectors, 60 emergency lights, 58 exit signs and one deluge sprinkler system for the stage area are ready to douse a potential blaze.
