Penn Theater ‘about 80%’ complete
As the sun set Thursday, Sept. 14, a once-familiar light blazed outside the Penn Theater in Butler.
“We’re about 80% there,” said owner Bryan Frenchak. “It’s looking really good.”
With its marquee illuminated once again, Frenchak said the Penn Theater is just two months away from welcoming its first acts.
“We’re shooting for this fall, but we have booked a band,” he said. “It’s an Eagles tribute band called Hotel California, and that’s booked for Nov. 17. They’re not for sale yet, but we figure we’ll probably sell them the second we open up.”
In the meantime, Frenchak said the venue has “a lot going on.”
“We’re waiting on supply chain, waiting on the brass railings, waiting on the sound boards that we’ll put up for acoustics,” he said. “So hopefully, it’ll be in next week.”
Workers were in the process of completing concrete work and drywall as of Thursday afternoon.
Frenchak said the theater is also waiting on some engineering projects, but will begin some of the final touches inside on the venue starting this week.
“We’re starting to paint this week on the inside of the big theater,” he said. “And then we’ll be putting some carpet down.”
This story was updated Sept. 18, 2023 to reflect the opening date is Nov. 17. A previous version of this story said Oct. 17.
