Carbon seeks grant for opera house, fire center

Carbon County is gambling on gaming revenue to help train first responders and spiff up a Jim Thorpe live entertainment venue.

County commissioners on Thursday approved Local Share Account grant applications for the county Emergency Operations and Training Center and for Mauch Chunk Opera House.

The opera house is asking for $169,069 and the fire training center for $500,000.

Local Share Accounts available to Carbon County are funded by money set aside from Mount Airy Casino Resort revenues.

The Commonwealth Financing Authority distributes the grants.

Because the grant program may be used for economic development, community development and public interest projects, the training center and opera house are not vying with each other for the money.

However, applicants may not receive the amounts they seek, said Commissioner William J. O’Gurek.

Commissioners’ Chairman Wayne E. Nothstein said the grant would help pay for the training tower and site preparation, among other things, at the training center, which is early in the construction stage.

An access road is being built, and Nothstein said he anticipates it being finished by year’s end. Construction of the tower and other buildings is expected to happen beginning next spring.

“The cost of the access road alone has been (about) $800,000,” he said.

Permits, fees and studies have added at least another $400,000.

Built in 1881, the opera house, at 14 W. Broadway, offers a variety of entertainment, from music to theater.

Recent improvements include new seating, a new steel roof, revamped sound and stage lighting, major electrical improvements, interior and exterior repainting, and extensive lobby/gallery remodeling, according to its website.

“Depending on the grant they get, they’re looking to upgrade their sound equipment, stage curtains and air conditioning,” O’Gurek said.

“They don’t have the resources to make major renovations, so we’re hoping the grant will be awarded, and I’m hoping all of it, too, to help them do all they want to do. It would be a great thing for tourism in Carbon County.”

In other matters, Carbon County Children and Youth services agency officials spoke at the meeting Thursday to explain an auditor general’s report that had raised questions on a televised news report.

A recent state auditor general’s report said services that the agency had paid millions of dollars for over the past six years could not be confirmed, the report said.

The finding isn’t specific to Carbon County, having been found in 41 other counties, said agency fiscal officer Anissa Nunemacher.

“This finding doesn’t mean that there was money that was misspent, misappropriated, missing,” she said.

The agency is “absolutely certain” the services were provided, she said, and the bills sent through the agency’s fiscal office and the controller’s office.

The agency has complied with the auditor’s recommendations, Nunemacher said.

Administrator Sallianne Schatz said the state provides no training for agency staff to compile the complex reports.