Greensburg Garden and Civic Center celebrates 50 years

The Greensburg Garden & Civic Center is home to horticulture enthusiasts — and a lot more.

In addition to the Greensburg Garden Center, it hosts the Westmoreland Symphony Orchestra, Greensburg Civic Theater and several other community organizations. Weddings, meetings, seminars and political events are held in its meeting space, while music and theater draw crowds to its auditorium.

When center manager Jan Barsoum started working there in 1996, the center had about 80 events a year. Now it has more than 600.

“We just keep going,” Barsoum said.

It’s been going for 50 years.

Philanthropist Katherine Mabis McKenna designed and financed the center. In 1969, the Katherine Mabis McKenna foundation turned it over to the city. In 1990, the board created a commission to oversee the center. That commission evolved into the Westmoreland Cultural Trust, which still manages and operates the facility.

The Katherine Mabis McKenna foundation continues to contribute to the center.

It costs about $300,000 a year to pay for the center, according to the trust. It’s paid for through rent from full-time tenants, event rentals and charitable contributions.

On Old Salem Road, the center is sometimes overshadowed in the public eye by the trust’s downtown properties like the Palace Theatre, even though it’s the reason the trust exists, Westmoreland Cultural Trust CEO April Kopas said.

But the center still plays an important role as a community meeting place, she said.

There’s not a lot of large gathering spaces in Greensburg, she said.

“The location is key. It’s accessible; it’s just available to folks without a lot of planning on their end,” she said.

Flexibility is key, Barsoum said. The center gives event organizers a lot of leeway, letting them bring in their own caterers and plan events to their specifications.

The center has an auditorium that hosts community theater and symphony performances and two banquet halls for events.

The building is surrounded by about four acres of gardens.

The third floor is occupied by the Community Foundation of Westmoreland County, though next year that organization will move to another trust-owned building downtown.

The trust plans to renovate the third floor into another event space.

“The space lends itself to a beautiful view of the city,” Kopas said. “However, it’s going to need some improvements to make it modern yet inviting.”

About 90 community groups have events at the center, often monthly, Barsoum said.

She thinks McKenna would be happy with the many roles the center serves.

“Her vision was to ensure that the center was a multi-purpose, functioning facility,” Barsoum said.

The center will host a 50th anniversary open house from 5-7 p.m. Friday.