DERBY — The city has a report from a consultant saying restoring the Sterling Opera House could cost $36.9 million. Now the members of the Sterling Opera House Committee are trying to figure out what to do with the study.
That was the gist of a Sept. 14 meeting of the Sterling Opera House Committee, a group working to come up with a plan to bring the historic Derby theater back to life.
In July, Evan Delli Paoli, an architect with Steinberg Hart, presented the commission with a 429-page report detailing renovations needed for the 137-year-old building, which has been vacant at 112 Elizabeth St. for decades.
The report also detailed the type of programming that would best suit the building — live music and comedy.
Click here for a previous Valley Indy story on the report.
Click here to read the report.
The members of the Sterling Opera House Committee met Sept. 14 in Derby City Hall, where chairman Gino DiGiovanni, Jr. talked about next steps for the group.
DiGiovanni saw the next step as officially passing the report to the city’s legislative body, whether it be a subcommittee of the Board of Aldermen and Alderwomen, or to the full board itself.
On Sept. 22, DiGiovanni told The Valley Indy that Alderwoman Amy L. Pettinichi, a chair of one of the Derby Aldermanic subcommittees, said the report should go directly to the full Derby Board of Aldermen & Alderwomen.
Linda Fusco, Mayor Joseph DiMartino’s chief of staff, emailed The Valley Indy Sept. 22 saying the members of the BOAA already had copies of the report.
“Thereafter, the mayor met with the 501C. Everyone agrees it’s up to them to begin to raise money needed for restoration,” Fusco said.
The 501(c)(3) Fusco refers to is Sterling Opera House Restoration, a nonprofit group formed to raise money to make the restoration happen.
The next meeting of the BOAA is scheduled for Oct. 8.
The Sterling Opera House Committee usually meets on the second Monday of each month.
The video below is a clip from the committee’s Sept. 14 meeting.