Oil City Library Hall

The Carnegie Library opened to the public in 1904. One very unique draw at the library was the theater space, one that could accommodate 400 seats, that took over the entire second floor. It featured a hand carved four-foot high, 50-by-50-foot stage with dressing rooms on each side. Doors leading to them were curved wood. Six large leaded glass windows were installed on the sides of the hall and the two-story vaulted ceiling featured several rows of lights. Used as a venue for a wide array of events, the theater was unexpectedly closed in the spring of 1955 by Oil City Council. At issue was money and council members said their library renovation budget was pegged at $30,000. It would be better spent to enhance the library’s first floor, insisted council. The city offered four options as to the second floor’s future: spend all the library money to renovate and repair the second floor; convert the second floor to private offices and rent them out; tear off the second floor and make the library a one-story building; or, raze the entire building and start over. The chosen option was to renovate the downstairs and switch the second floor to storage space only with a small area set aside for historical collections and research. Although it has been "empty and forelorn" since the mid-1950s, there is a campaign to renovate the space known as Raising the Curtain on Act II. Read more on the library's website.