One of the community’s oldest church buildings will go from sermons to singing, if Steve Beals, Becky Bly and others have their way.
A group of arts lovers have banded together to acquire the former Women’s Interfaith Institute of the Finger Lakes at 140 Fall St. with plans to make it the home of a new Seneca Falls Performing Arts Center. The building housed the Congregational Church before becoming the Institute.
A group called Seneca Falls Performing Arts Center has been formed as an affiliate of Seneca Community Players, a not-for-profit amateur theatrical organization. It is headed by Beals, with Bly as vice president, Robert McDonald as treasurer and Debbie Bly as secretary. They have a one-year commitment contract allowing the group to buy the property from Dr. Allison Stokes, founder of the Institute, for $1 after a year if certain conditions are met. If not, they can give it back to her.
“It’s a very ambitious undertaking,” acknowledged Beals. “But we think it can happen. We’re optimistic.”
