U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro secured a grant for $150,000 that will go toward interior renovations at the Sterling Opera House on Elizabeth Street.
Derby Mayor Anthony Staffieri announced the news Monday in a prepared statement.
City officials have been working steadily to breathe new life into the 124-year-old structure, which once welcomed acts ranging from Lon Cheney, Sr. to Red Skelton.
It was a performing venue until 1945 and was then used as City Hall and a police station until 1965.
Most recently it has been marketed as a space rife with ghosts and supernatural activity.
While the exterior renovations are complete — including the restoration of the building’s cupola which looks over downtown Derby and the Housatonic River — the grant secured by DeRosa is the largest amount dedicated toward the interior makeover to date.
In September 2011, MOS, an architecture firm from New Haven, unveiled a plan for the inside of the opera house that would cost between $3 to $4 million to complete.
The opera house would become a multi-use venue, available for everything from performances to weddings, according to the vision from MOS, which was also endorsed by the mayor.
Shortly after the architects’ plan was made public, the Valley Community Foundation opened a fund for the renovation project. “Save Our Sterling,” a grassroots Derby group, donated $7,000 to the cause.
The VCF also gave $15,000 to the city for the renovation project.
The public is also welcomed to donate to the Sterling fund at VCF.
“I have always felt that putting the Sterling Opera House back to use as a regional arts/theater venue will help to improve the economic climate in Derby and throughout the lower Naugatuck Valley,” DeLauro said in a prepared statement.
“This is not the first time she has helped secure funding for the Sterling. Obviously, she understands the benefit of preserving history for future generations. The opera house will help to draw people downtown and help to revitalize this area,” Staffieri said in the same prepared statement. “We will continue to seek grants so that this expense is not carried by our taxpayers.”
