From Public Square in Wilkes-Barre, the F.M. Kirby Center for the Performing Arts appears to be running normally, welcoming performances and shows. But if you take a look downstairs, it's a different story with some noticeable issues.
"The stage has not skipped a beat," said Joell Yarmell, the Kirby's executive director. "But what's happening is we're bringing in new faces, we're bringing in new audiences. They don't know our theater, and they're standing in line for 10,15 minutes sometimes for the restrooms, not knowing that there would be a whole other set down here."
The destruction in the lower level stems from a broken water line last fall.
"On October 10, our building started taking on water early in the morning that ended up with half a million gallons of water going through at 11,400 square feet of space."
A fire service water line broke, and the water broke through a foundation and then filled the basement of the Kirby,
"That space was our dressing rooms, offices, bar, downstairs restrooms that all of our showgoers use," Yarmell said. "It was it was disastrous."
After some insurance and supply-chain delays, construction is ready to start.
The Kirby is using this demolition as an opportunity to rebuild and upgrade.
"The insurance, obviously, will pay to make something look exactly as it did before the flood. If we have that sitting there for the past 50 years, it didn't make sense for us and will make better sense for our showgoers and our attendees. We're going to fix that now. Even though we weren't prepared fiscally or calendar-wise," Yarmell said.
Much of this construction will take place between June and September when the Kirby will shut down for the summer for the first time to replace its HVAC system. That project was planned before the flooding occurred.
The staff say that in addition to that upgrade, you can expect this space to be back in action next fall as well.