Interior Designer Transforming Part of St. George Theatre
By NY1 News
Friday, January 22, 2016 at 06:52 AM EST
http://www.ny1.com/nyc/staten-island/staten-islander-of-the-week/2016/01/22/interior-designer-transforming-part-of-st–george-theatre.html
| Arann is an interior designer with more than 30 years of experience under her belt. “We’re trying to recreate what was here but give it a much more updated, fresh feeling,” said Susan Arann, our Staten Islander of the Week. Susan Arann has big plans for the Saint George Theatre. |
Now, she’s using her decorating know-how to breathe new life into the St. George Theatre’s
first-floor restrooms.
Arann says it’s easy for a designer to get lost in the building’s ornate design elements.
She says that’s why her main goal is to preserve the theater’s rich history, dating back to the 1920’s.
“It bridges the old with the new and there’s an elegance and it’s safe and it’s beautiful,” said Arann. “Finally people will walk in and say, ‘Wow!’ That’s what I wanna get.”
Arann has been working with architects and builders on the project for the last seven months.
She says it’s usually a job priced at about $20 thousand.
But for this special client she’s doing it all free of charge.
That’s big savings for a theater that relies on grants and donations.
“It’s a huge value and so important to us as a nonprofit we have to be careful how we spend our money,” said Doreen Cugno of the St. George Theatre.
Arann says a lot of work goes into a restoration project of this size, but adds that it doesn’t feel that way.
“It’s more like a dream because you’re peeling away the years and then you never know what you’re going to discover and that’s the most fascinating part of it,” she said.
And so, for preserving a piece of history for future generations to enjoy, Susan Arann is our Staten Islander of the Week.