Most of Butler's mayoral and city council candidates support preserving the closed Penn Theater downtown — except one who suggested preserving the building's facade and converting the property into a courtyard or park.

Candidates for mayor and city council discussed the theater during a debate Tuesday evening in the Holly Pointe building.

Mayoral candidates Jamie Lee Goehring, a Democrat, and Benjamin Smith, a Republican, and incumbent Democratic council candidates Kathy Kline and Kenny Bonus said they supported preserving the theater.

But Republican council challenger Jeff Smith had a different idea.

Smith said he believes in preservation and would like to see the Pullman-Standard building preserved, but saving the Penn Theater would be too expensive.

“I believe in preservation, but some can't be preserved,” he said.

The Penn Theater Performance Company is nearing the end of a yearlong effort to raise $100,000 for repairs to make the historic theater meet current building codes.

The City of Butler Redevelopment Authority owns the theater and has a joint operations agreement with the theater company. The Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation loaned the authority $290,000 to buy the theater in 2009 and the foundation wants the theater to be developed.

“Preserved buildings will foster growth,” Jeff Smith said.

However, he argued that only the facade of the Penn Theater should be preserved. The rest of the building should be demolished and replaced with a courtyard or park, he said.

Dane Winkler, chairman of the theater company board of directors, attended the debate and left wondering what led Smith to conclude that repairing the theater would be too expensive.

“I wonder what he's basing his opinion on,” Winkler said Wednesday. “We've taken people through (the theater) that think it's worth fixing.”

He said the city engineer and four construction contractors have looked at the building.

“They think it's in repairable shape,” Winkler said.

If the roof had large holes, the building might not be worth preserving, but repairs have been made to the roof, he said.

He also wondered if replacing the building with a courtyard would be more expensive than fixing it.

“It can't be cheap,” Winkler said of Smith's proposal.

Another building is adjacent to the theater, but Winkler said he doesn't know if the two are structurally connected.

If they are connected, it could add to the demolition cost, he added.

During the debate, Kline said she supports preserving the theater and the Pullman-Standard building on Hansen Avenue.

“We must find a way to connect preservation with modern needs,” Kline said.

Bonus, a theater company board member, said he supports preserving the theater.

Goehring called the theater “pivotal to downtown” and a potential addition to the entertainment district.

She said she believes developers are interested in the Pullman-Standard building.

Mayoral candidate Benjamin Smith said he supports preserving and reusing the theater as long as it doesn't involve money from the city budget.

The city can support the project by applying for grants, he said.

Performances at the theater would attract visitors downtown, he added.