The fate of Latrobe’s former Manos Theatre building has been in limbo for years.
It could enter a new chapter as a result of an ongoing bankruptcy proceeding and a purchase offer from the nonprofit Latrobe Community Revitalization Program.
The one-time movie house at 227 Main St. most recently was used as a fitness center before Cabaret Theatre Inc. purchased it in August 2015 for $25,000.
The theater company’s late founder, John Carosella, who lost his battle with cancer in June 2023, and company CFO John Michael Horan had pursued a dream of redeveloping the three-story building. Horan said the concept included a live performance cabaret space on the main floor, with other areas devoted to dressing rooms, a youth arts center and supporting mechanical operations.
Some renovation work began, but Horan said the development plan ran up against major stumbling blocks: an unexpected requirement to install a fire-suppression sprinkler system and two years of back taxes assessed against the now tax-exempt property.
As a result, he said, Cabaret Theatre in September filed a voluntary petition for Chapter 7 liquidation bankruptcy, as a way to forestall seeing the building included in a Westmoreland County tax sale.
Carosella’s estate, Horan and J. Michaels Independent Contractors — which shares Horan’s home address in Hempfield — are three of the theater company’s listed creditors. According to federal bankruptcy court records, they claim money loaned, investments made, costs incurred or services performed amounting to about $62,000, $80,000 and $28,500, respectively.
Also, first-listed creditor Westmoreland County Tax Claim Bureau is claiming $14,300 toward unpaid taxes owed to local government taxing bodies — including Greater Latrobe School District and the City of Latrobe.
Hearing in late January
A hearing is set for Jan. 28, either in person in Pittsburgh or via Zoom, where Latrobe Community Revitalization Program’s $25,000 offer for the building and any other better offers will be considered.
“There has been a lot of interest in the community to see something happen with the building,” said Jarod Trunzo, Latrobe Community Revitalization Program executive director. “We don’t want to see the building be purchased and then sit there with the same appearance it has now.
“Our intention is to seal the whole envelope of the building and make renovations to the exterior in the immediate future, should we acquire it. The interior is going to take a lot of time and massive effort.”
Trunzo added: “We’re not looking to own it forever, but to reposition the building for future use.”
Greensburg attorney Robert H. Slone, a Latrobe Community Revitalization Program trustee, has asked the bankruptcy court to allow the property to be sold free and clear of the outstanding tax burden. That would free the nonprofit or any other successful purchaser from a related tax obligation.
Slone, who took part in a recent walk-through of the building, said, “It was in pretty poor condition.
“There’s a lot that needed to be done. They had started doing some repairs, but nothing has been completed.”
Horan said the theater company could not continue renovations because of legal and regulatory disputes concerning the building. While work on the building was on hold, the theater company staged some performances at the nearby Latrobe Art Center and at another location about a block to the east on Main Street.
Horan said the company’s effort to make payments toward the back taxes were not enough to prevent a tax sale of the property, prompting the Cabaret Theatre to reluctantly seek Chapter 7 bankruptcy as an alternative.
“We have to sell that building to recoup some of the debt we’ve got to cover,” Horan said. “I wanted to turn it into a school or theater arts outlet or entity. It’s just the way the chips fell.”
“We decided Chapter 7 was the best route going forward,” said Justin Schantz, whose Greensburg Law Care practice is representing Cabaret Theatre in the process. “Our goal would be the same as the trustees’ — to try to maximize the value of any (property) sale for the creditors.”
Through its legal representative, the city has filed an objection to having a free-and-clear sale of the property.
“We’re just being very cautious on behalf of the city,” Latrobe solicitor Lee Demosky said. “The property shouldn’t be sold without the back taxes being paid.”
Slone indicated that, however the bankruptcy sale might be accomplished, owed taxes would be paid to the governmental entities.
“We’ll get enough money to pay the back real estate taxes,” he said.
According to Cinema Treasures, the building originally opened July 8, 1916, as the Paramount Theatre and then was remodeled and reopened as the Manos Theatre on Nov. 30, 1936.
Movie screenings ended there in 1979. More recently, the Latrobe Athletic Club fitness center occupied the building.