Sussex council to sell Crescent Theatre for $159,900

The Sussex Borough Council on Dec. 20 accepted a bid to purchase the Crescent Theatre for $159,900, with the stipulation that the building remain a community theater.

The bid came from Joshua Reed, managing director of Drama Geek Studios in Newton.

The Crescent Theatre, 78 Fountain Square, was built in 1917 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.

The council has been considering the fate of the dilapidated building for about six months.

Borough Attorney Frank McGovern said several steps are needed to bring it up to code. The bidder must secure a Certificate of Occupancy within 120 days of closing on the sale, although the deadline could be extended 60 days.

“With this bidder, I think we’re going to be fine here,” said the council president, Robert Holowach. “He owns an organization that’s in business today and very active.

“I think this is a heck of a great situation for us, and it’ll help bring Main Street back alive.”

Reed has worked in technical theater and theater production, including directing, set design and construction, sound engineering, lighting design and operation, and stage management.

He has worked with community and professional theater companies as well as public school districts and private schools.

And he has been an adjunct professor in the Sussex County Community College theater department.