Old churches make great stages. Which is why you’ll find theater companies like Starry Night Theatre Inc. and Niagara University’s theater department performing in renovated 19th- and 20th-century churchesIn 2001, Frieden’s United Church of Christ gifted Starry Night Theatre Inc. with their former church, on the corner of Schenck and Vandervoort streets in North Tonawanda, after they couldn’t find a buyer. The congregation moved to Amherst in 2000 because of declining membership.
Don Swartz, executive director, said it cost $100,000 in renovations to convert the church into Ghostlight Theatre. Swartz emphasized the importance of keeping the theatre “church-like” and preserving the original architecture amidst ongoing renovations.
“We tried to keep the integrity of the building,” he said. “Our building is still a church and looks like a church and that was something that was very important to us.”
