Moorestown Theater Company to Target Old Library Space for Permanent Home

It’s been 13 years and more than 100 shows since its inception and the Moorestown Theater Company still doesn’t have a permanent home.

In 13 years, the company has performed in 12 buildings. Mapquest has listed the First Baptist Church as the home of the theater company, and before that, Artistic Director and founder Mark Morgan’s house.

Morgan has an idea on how to change that.

Morgan intends to present a petition to Moorestown Council during Monday night’s meeting in which he requests use of the space on which the old library building currently stands.

The old library building has not been in use since construction on the new town hall and library complex wrapped up last year.

During that same week, council gave its approval to knock the old library building down after a study conducted by Ragan Design Group found it would cost about $3,400,000 to repair the old building and update it to meet current building codes. It would cost an additional $3,000,000 to fit the building for another use, bringing the grand total to $6,400,000.

Earlier this year, council discussed the possibility of using that spot for open space.

Morgan is OK with the old building being destroyed. He is proposing a brand new building be built in that spot using only money that he is able to raise.

“Me and my wife have plenty of experience (fundraising),” Morgan said. “We just need the green light.”

He said he had over 750 signatures on his petition, as of Tuesday afternoon, including signatures he’s collecting online and on a hard copy.

“I have 100 adults from Moorestown, 100 kids from Moorestown and about 400 people outside Moorestown,” said Morgan, who began the effort about a month ago.

There isn’t a set number of signatures Morgan needs to collect, but he said he would like to bring a certain number of signatures before council to illustrate what kind of interest there is.

The building would serve not just the Moorestown Theater Company, but also other theater companies that don’t have a permanent home, as well as different schools and churches.

“The high school may be able to use it for a Battle of the Bands,” Morgan suggested at one point. “There may even be other theater companies that spring up because of this.”

He said his theater company would only need the building for about 20 weekends a year. The rest of the weekends could be reserved for other organizations, including those outside Moorestown that he says could bring outside money into the township.

“It’s one-stop parking,” Morgan said. “You could park at the library, go see a show and walk two blocks to have dinner. It would be a benefit to the taxpayer to have that money coming in. There are so many advantages.”

He said he has unanimous support from the Moorestown Business Association, of which he is currently the Executive Director.

It would be a great advantage for the theater company, which spends a lot of time moving equipment from one place to another.

“We could go room-to-room rather than moving everything by car,” Morgan said. “We just waste so much time. We could make our shows even better, and we’d have more time to focus on fundraising. We wouldn’t have to acquire rehearsal time. If we had our own place, I could just set the schedule. The customers would know where every show is. I’ve had people going to our fall show that go to where our spring show was and I have to explain to them ‘No, that was where that show was and this is where this show is.’”

Morgan recognizes the importance of selling the idea to council.

When discussing the idea of using the spot as open space in March, Mayor Victoria Napolitano said designating the area as a green space is a cost-effective way to enhance the property.

Councilwoman Stacey Jordan suggested that if a new building was built there, there would be no place for parking, as the town hall, the new library and the recreation center are already located in that same complex.

Councilman Greg Newcomer said a new building in that spot could create more traffic problems in an already congested area, and Councilman Manny Delgado agreed with other council members that the space should be preserved.

That was in March, before Morgan began his petition or even came up with the idea. Council members didn’t respond to an email asking their thoughts on the subject from Moorestown Patch on Tuesday.

Morgan said he will continue to collect signatures up until Monday night’s meeting, which begins at 7 p.m. at town hall. The online petition was posted on change.org, and is accessible by clicking here.