Grant money to help Vandergrift's historic Casino Theatre replace crumbling fire escape

A crumbling fire escape at Vandergrift’s historic Casino Theatre that dates back nearly a century will be replaced with the help of grant money.

“It’s rusty, attached only in one location and the steps are not up to code,” said Janice Oberdorf, treasurer of the nonprofit Casino Theatre Restoration Management.

Oberdorf said numerous children’s programs are hosted upstairs in the library, and the current exit in an emergency is the dilapidated fire escape.

“If there were an emergency and children needed to get out that fire escape, it could potentially be a safety issue,” she said.

The escape is one of two that flank both sides of the 121-year-old theater listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The other was replaced in 2019.

Oberdorf said a recently awarded $21,500 grant from the Program to Aid Citizen Enterprise will pay for the work. PACE is a Pittsburgh-based nonprofit that has provided more than $10 million in grants and technical help to over 300 nonprofits in the Pittsburgh region.

“The new escape will have a landing and the distance between the steps will be up to code. The old one now doesn’t have a landing,” Oberdorf said.

New Kensington-based architect Canzian Johnston and Associates are designing the new escape. Oberdorf said the project should be completed in 2022.

Casino Theatre President Anthony Ferrante said he was pleased to see the grant come through.

“(Replacing the fire escape) was something we needed to do, but couldn’t afford,” Ferrante said.