 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Home |
Us'... Submit Profile & UPDATES |
Directory |
(Includes Possible ALL 60's Reunion) |
Are They Now? / Where They Were |
Gallery |
TALK |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Home |
Us'... Submit Profile & UPDATES |
Directory |
(Includes Possible ALL 60's Reunion) |
Are They Now? / Where They Were |
Gallery |
TALK |
|
|
 |
 |
|
 Long-vacant Coyle Theatre revives boyhood memories... By Ron Paglia, For The Valley Independent, June 23, 2005 There are many things wrong with growing older. You age in ways that have nothing to do with numbers or the aches and pains in parts of your body that you didn't know existed. You forget as you quietly slip to the far side of 65 what it's like to enjoy the sweet innocence of childhood. You forget the joys of a Saturday afternoon matinee at the neighborhood theater that only a child can realize and appreciate. Cowboys and Indians shed their magic and become only a symbol of years gone by. The movie industry is pricing itself out of business, you say to yourself. A trip to a mall 25 miles away becomes a ripoff rather than a valuable treasure in the mind of a child. And then comes something like a drive along McKean Avenue in downtown Charleroi. You quietly pass The Coyle Theatre, closed now for several years, and nostalgia that really has nothing to do with movies floods your mind. The brief experience reminds me of my Nona. Everyone has a Nona. We call them by different names - Grandma, Granny, Nanny - but they are one in the same. They are grandmothers. My Nona was Rivina Paglia, and for most of her adult life she was very much a part of The Coyle Theatre. It was nearly 29 years ago that Rivina died, but each time I drive by The Coyle, the same thoughts I had of her the day she passed away return. They are thoughts of good times that once prevailed. I remember that my grandmother - my Nona - often would take me to The Coyle when I was a child. She was the cleaning lady there for many years. An empty theater can hold a lot of adventures for a young boy of seven or eight. I'd go through the rows of seats seeking "treasures" that might have fallen from a customer's pocket the night before. I'd sit behind the ticket machine and pretend I was the cashier. Other times, when I wasn't roaming the darkened balcony, I'd help my grandmother sweep the empty popcorn boxes, candy bar wrappers and other assorted debris from under the seats. At age eight it was more of a game to me than anything else. It took me a long time to realize it was no game to my grandmother. "Rivina was as much a part of that theater as my father," Bob Coyle said years ago about my grandmother. "She was like a part of our family, and she took care of the theater like it was her home." The Coyle was opened before the turn of the last century by Coyle's grandfather, John W. Coyle, and was rebuilt twice. The theater, which remained in the Coyle family until it closed for the first time in 1981, initially featured traveling shows and vaudeville troupes. Bob Coyle's father, Robert S. Coyle, operated the theater until his death. There were many people in the extended Coyle "family" over the years. Folks like Rivina Paglia and Wayne Mikelsen, who for so many years was the projectionist, and Mildred Hershey. "They were grand people, so dedicated to their work," Bob Coyle, who now lives in Florida, told me in 1983. "We were always blessed with good people. There were literally hundreds of young folks who worked as ushers and assistant cashiers and at the concession stand." Lewis Guidetti was another one. "What a gentleman," Coyle said of Guidetti, who managed the State Theatre in Charleroi for many years and also toiled with style at the Coyle when it was operated by Manos Enterprises. "Mr. Guidetti was an inspiration to the theater business in this town. He was a showman in every sense of the word." The Coyle, owned and operated for some 16 years by Alan Maund, Lawrence Victoria Jr., James Greco and Eugene Tarquinio, closed its doors again in 1999, perhaps for good. A cultural trust group comprised of people from throughout the area have been trying to reopen the building as a movie theater and a venue for live shows. Their task is not an easy one, and I wish them well as they continue to try to overcome myriad obstacles. I realize that the folks who make up the cultural trust didn't know my grandmother. I wish they had. Rivina Paglia was a woman with a strong will and a fierce pride that wouldn't allow her to do anything but the best job possible. As Bob Coyle said, she toiled for years to make the theater as clean as her home, and she possessed that strong work ethic of her generation. "We had to work hard," my Nona told me in a conversation we had only a few days before her 78th birthday. She told me how, as a young woman, she carried coal - two buckets at a time. How she and my grandfather, Paul the Barber, worked long and hard for everything they had. She said that maybe all that hard work was finally taking its toll on her. That was the last time I saw Nona alive. There's a picture in one of our family albums showing my grandmother as a young woman. She was a beautiful woman and she remained that way over the years - in many ways. "She always had a radiant smile," Bob Coyle said. I remember my grandmother that way each time I drive by The Coyle Theatre. I think how much a part of her is still there. (Ron Paglia, a life-long Valley resident, is a former newspaper editor, public relations specialist and dee jay.)  Ever have one of those days when you wanted to kick yourself? Really hard! That's how I felt when reading the Letter to the Editor from Robert D. Mollenauer Jr., of Ridgecrest, Calif., in reference to his late great-grandfather, Robert L. Barnhart. Mollenauer mentioned that Barnhart played an important role in the early history of theaters in Charleroi, and he's right. Mollenauer hinted that I hadn't read any of the books about Charleroi, but he's wrong on that account. I had the pleasure of compiling information for "Millennium 2000: Honoring Our History, Charleroi," and I have read numerous other accounts of the Magic City's history, including those by the late historians R. Mitchell Steen and George Martinet. So I knew about Barnhart, and my exclusion of him in the recent column about my grandmother and The Coyle Theatre was an error of omission, not commission. But enough of the mea culpas. Let's talk about Barnhart, a talented man and an entrepreneur who left his mark throughout the area. As noted in the Charleroi Historical Society's "Millennium" publication five years ago, Barnhart's name is seen on many of the town's buildings, as well as in many other Mid-Mon Valley communities. He was an architect who designed many of the larger and more prominent buildings in the Valley. He came to Charleroi as the town's first architect and later entered the entertainment business. In fall 1905, he saw the possibilities of the motion picture industry and erected the Electric Theatre, which later, in an adjoining building, became the Palace Theater on McKean Avenue. It was the fourth oldest motion picture theater in the United States. Ensuingly, that building became the site of the David Israel men's clothing store and then the Corning Outlet. It now houses Dee's Records and Video store, and owner Mark Alterici has restored the original look to the front of the building. In 1982, the Charleroi Area Historical Society honored Barnhart by erecting a plaque on the building that once housed the Palace Theater. Meanwhile, The Electric Theatre was a one-story building with 150 seats. When it opened on Sept. 6, 1905, it had its own electric plant. Barnhart, whose first job was installing the first electric light plant in Charleroi, started his career in the movie business when he managed The Coyle Theatre in 1891. In those days, the Coyle was in the upstairs of its present location and stock companies and vaudeville acts would appear for one-or two-night engagements. Barnhart, according to "Millennium," could not resist the urge to put electricity to use in the movie film business, so he turned to the Electric Theater, which later became the Palace. In 1907, he replaced the original structure with a two-story building and combined it with the Palace. His family operated it until it closed. The marker was placed in his memory. Barnhart studied architecture in New York City, where he spent 11 years before coming to Charleroi. He was the first architect and contractor to handle both aspects of that business in Charleroi. He designed the First Christian Church, the First Bank of Charleroi, the Fifth Street and Second Street schools, as well as the Charleroi Elks Club, which he also built. In Donora, he designed the Irondale Hotel, the first school, the Donora Hotel, the First National Bank and the Donora Post Office. In Monessen, he designed the first schoolhouse, the Fifth Avenue Hotel and the former People's National Bank, which evolved into Mellon Bank and is now Citizens Bank. Barnhart designed the Kyle and Birmingham buildings and the First National Bank in Belle Vernon. The Kyle Building is the only one that still stands. He designed the First National Bank in Roscoe and the National Deposit Bank and S.E. Taylor home in Brownsville. In California, he designed the People's Bank, the First National Bank, a coal company's building and the J.E. Reed and Thomas J. Underwood homes. He designed the First National Bank in Fredericktown and the West Newton National Bank in West Newton. The Elks building in Charleroi, one of the few remaining structures retaining the grandeur and splendor that marked that period of our history, was designed and built by Barnhart in 1904. Much of the original appearance has been retained. The small dining room at the right of the main entrance of the Elks Club once was a reading room and featured two huge mahogany tables which are still in use today in the upstairs section of the building. An inscription on a stained glass panel over the front door the club identifies Barnhart as the architect. My thanks to the Charleroi Historical Society and anyone and everyone who published "Millennium 2000: Honoring Our History." It's an excellent book with valuable information on people like Barnhart, who was important to Charleroi and just as important to the Mon Valley. It's apparent that Robert D. Mollenauer Jr. is proud of his great-grandfather, and he has many reasons to feel that way. Ron Paglia is a former newspaper reporter and editor. If you have ideas for this column, please contact him at ronpaglia@verizon.net. | 'Special Treat', Circa 1920 | Town Memorabilia | Lock #4 Public School, Circa Early to Mid-teens | Lock #4 Public School, Circa Late Teens to 1920 | The Coyle Theatre | Hotel Redd- Charleroi's First Hotel | 1895 Fifth Street Celebration | School Buildings | Police & Fire Departments | When Jonny Comes Marching Home | Charleroi Academics | Electric and Palace Theatres | Old Lock #4 | Economical Bakery | Keffer Music Studio | Charleroi Mail - Early Commencement Announcements | | ***HISTORICAL | ***THE 1920's THRU 1940's | ***THE 1950's | ***THE 1960's | ***THE 1970's | ***THE 1980's | ***THE 1990's | ***THE NEW MILLENNIUM | | Return Home | 'Contact Us'... Submit Profile & UPDATES | Class Directory | Reunions (Includes Possible ALL 60's Reunion) | Where Are They Now? / Where They Were | Photo Gallery | TOWN TALK | Sports! | SCHOLASTICS | |
||
 |
 |