Members of the Tyrone Community Partnership decided last night to pursue the possibility of purchasing the former Citizens Fire Department Social Hall on Tenth Street in downtown Tyrone.
They have met with Reliance Bank and are in the beginning stages of seeing what is involved and what is available. No price for the building has been set, according to Rick Gority, secretary of the partnership.
“The next step is to begin testing the waters and find out what the community thinks on us purchasing the building and how the community would help when it comes to staffing volunteers.” said Gority. “Our biggest concern is staffing as well as money. Would we have enough help to plan, manage and clean up after events?”
Plans and events for a community building would include weddings, craft shows, social events, dances and other ideas at a place where 200 people can attend.
“This would be a huge step for us, but would truly be a community building for Tyrone,” Gority told The Daily Herald this morning.
The community partnership is the first out of the gate with this idea and have been talking and considering the project for several months.
“We are aware there are other inquiries from other organizations in town,” said Gority, “we know that Citizens has been a hot issue and we certainly want this to be perceived as a positive and not turn into a revolt, and that is why we would like to hear from the community.”
Acting President Linda Daniels is currently looking into grants, and federal and state funding that might be available. Both the Tyrone Community Partnership and the former Citizens Fire Department are non-profit organizations.
“We hope the community would like to see the building stay at its current non-profit status,” Gority added.
Some issues involving the actual fire hall and equipment still need to be resolved. The Community Partnership is only interested in the social hall building.
“We want to do this and we want to see if the public is behind us,” Gority said positively this morning.
Ongoing fundraising would be another revenue stream for the financing of the mortgage and utilities.
“We do want to finance this ourselves,” he said. “We want to keep it very simple.”
The organization will continue to move forward in getting a price for the building, possible financing options and any monies available through the state and federal governments. While they take the early steps, they are asking to hear from you. You can call and leave your feedback at 684-2676 or visit www.tyronepa.com/partnership and go into the contact information page for e-mail addresses.
