Unassembled new balcony theater seating sat waiting in an upper lobby at the Edmond Town Hall Wednesday, May 13. There for its delivery that morning was Board of Managers Chairman Jim Juliano, who noted the many parts that would require assembly. Moving those parts that will soon add up to 158 new seats for the balcony was building staff member Joe Collins, who will put them together.

The Edmond Town Hall Board of Managers recently had an opportunity to replace its original circa 1930s theater balcony seats, said Mr Juliano. Through member Mary Fellows, “who had contact with a company” that sought to buy the balcony seats, he said “she made arrangements with them” to buy the seats for $7,000.

Town Hall Operations Manager Sheila Torres said that the managers bought new seats for the balcony of the theater. They came from Preferred Seating of Indiana for $9,000.

The overall deal “was a tremendous savings for us,” Mr Juliano said, also confirming that the actions were board decisions. The newer seats “were like the ones downstairs,” which had been replaced in past years and are well cushioned and have cup holders.

Ms Fellows said via e-mail that the old balcony seats, which had been removed about two weeks earlier, “will be used on the new HBO show that is replacing Boardwalk Empire with the working title, Rock and Roll.”

She said the producers are Martin Scorsese and Mick Jagger, and the show will include Ray Ramano, Olivia Munn, and Bobby Canavale.

Producers “were looking for a full set of older theater seats as I was looking for seats to buy, and I thought this may be a good way to help fund the renovation of the balcony, and it was; they bought them,” Ms Fellows wrote.

Mr Juliano said the managers had “talked about replacing or reupholstering, and that would have been really expensive, so this arrangement, with Mary’s help, was a pretty good deal.” This scenario, he added, “was the most economical.”

Recalling a quote in past years for reupholstering, he said the cost was “astronomical, we could not afford it then and I don’t think we could afford it now.”

Town Historian Dan Cruson, a member of The Mary Hawley Society, a fundraising arm for the Board of Managers, said that the upper balcony seats were not part of the renovations that took place on the main level of the theater several years ago. The theater balcony seats were original to the building, and were from as early as 1931.

He noted concerns over selling what could be considered historic seats worth preserving. He said some people are “opposed to losing those seats, and another [faction] is in favor.”