Funding Will Enable Completion of Main Pieces of the Auditorium

HAZLETON - Today, Congressman Paul E. Kanjorski (PA-11) announced $300,000 for the Hazleton Elementary/Middle School's Alice C. Wiltsie Performing Arts Center.  The school is also known as the Hazleton Castle.  The funding will enable the Castle Fund to complete the basic tenants of the auditorium which will make it a functional, modern performance space.  Once completed, the auditorium will be the main theater space for the Hazleton area, functioning as a community theater for the school as well as for groups in the area.  The funding was secured in the Consolidated Appropriations Act which Congress passed with Congressman Kanjorski's strong support and was enacted on December 16.

"Since touring the Hazleton Elementary/Middle School in 2008, I have said that I would work to secure funding for the school, especially for the renovation of the auditorium," said Congressman Kanjorski.  "With this funding, the renovation of the auditorium will soon turn from a multi-year long renovation project into a state of the art performance space.  Once completed, it will become the cultural base for the Hazleton area, and residents will soon be able to take advantage of the many theater performances, concerts, and dances that will take place.  This project has united the community and I applaud the Castle Fund Board for its tremendous efforts on this project."

"From the very beginning, Congressman Kanjorski has been a dedicated supporter of the auditorium renovation and he saw it as something of great importance for the entire city," said Elaine Maddon Curry, a director on the Castle Fund Board of Directors.  "The completion of this project will offer all the students in the Hazleton Area opportunities for cultural enrichment and will also offer adults a venue to view the arts that previously have been available only in larger cities.  Congressman Kanjorski understood the full breadth of our dream, and by his efforts to secure the vital funding for this project, he has helped ensure it will become a reality."

The federal funding will enable the completion of the basic pieces of the auditorium renovation, which will make it a functional theater for the community in Hazleton.  Among other things, the funding will enable the Castle Fund to purchase and install a sound system, audio control center, speakers, microphones, video projectors, projector screens, stage lighting, curtain controls, and stage curtains.

In May 2009, Congressman Kanjorski submitted testimony to the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies in support of funding for the Hazleton Elementary/Middle School auditorium.

In May 2008, Congressman Kanjorski toured the Hazleton Elementary/Middle School after it had been recently renovated and discussed the Castle Fund's mission to renovate the school's auditorium with board members.

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