News : Palace seats to become part of Mount Vernon community theatre renovation

Mount Vernon HS wrestlers load seats from the Vinton Palace for a community theatre there.

Gerald Horst and Alan Merchant carry a row of old seats from the Palace Theatre Saturday.

When the children's theater production called "A Bag Full of Fables" opens next month in Mount Vernon, the audience members will see and hear the show from seats familiar to Vinton area residents

Mount Vernon High School wrestlers spent their Saturday morning making a trip to Vinton, where they loaded the old seats from the Palace Theatre onto trucks and trailers for the drive to Mount Vernon.

Palace Manager Gerald Horst said the Palace has donated those seats to the Mount Vernon/Lisbon Community Theatre, which uses an the auditorium of an old school building.

Marcy Horst said the idea to donate the chairs to Mount Vernon's community theatre came when she and Gerald attended a performance there.

"We are super excited, says Amy White, the president of the board that oversees that theater group in Mount Vernon.

White says the organization has been working with the building's owners and Coe College to make the theater a "more usable space."

The donation from the Vinton Palace will allow that theatre to expand to 150 seats. That auditorium now has new air conditioning says White, who adds that lighting and stage improvements are also in progress.

White says the improvements, including the installation of the seats from the Vinton Palace, will be completed by the time the show opens Oct. 18.

For even more photos, click on the Palace Facebook page!