The former St. Columba Catholic Church was one of three Roman Catholic churches that were closed in 2009, the result of a five-parish consolidation in the Cambria City section of the City of Johnstown. The non-profit, 1901 Church Inc. purchased the three buildings in late 2011 and launched the Steeples Project which reopened one as The Grand Halle on Broad Street, sold a second, and is repurposing St. Columba as live theatre/performance venue. SGA provided landscape architectural services for The Grand Halle on Broad Street to design a new outdoor public square to support the space as rented events venue. At the former St. Columba, SGA developed streetscape and entry plaza improvements to serve the main lobby and box office addition and designed an intimate internal landscaped courtyard for private parties and artist meet-and-greets. The project was funded by a National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Art Works grant and a Pennsylvania Historical Museum Commission Keystone grant, along with local foundation financial support.
