Pottsville Gymnastics & Theatrical Center to close after 35 years

Apr. 24—POTTSVILLE — A longtime gymnastics and performing arts business in the city is closing its doors after decades in operation.

Pottsville Gymnastics & Theatrical Center will cease operations May 28, Barbara Kost-Lonergan, the center's owner, director and head coach, said this week. She cited the ongoing coronavirus pandemic as the reason for the closure.

She said the decision was "very difficult," adding the center faced financial issues due to the pandemic. It was closed for four months last year, reopening in July for the competition team and in September for recreational students. It closed again in December for several weeks to curb the spread of the virus under orders from Gov. Tom Wolf.

Kost-Lonergan, a resident of Minersville, said enrollment was down this year as some families chose not to allow their children to participate in activities due to the pandemic.

"Despite the struggles, we stayed committed to finishing out the current competition season and the current school year," she said.

The center has taken precautions to ensure COVID-19 won't spread, including temperature checks, hand sanitizing and social distancing. Face masks are required for staff and gymnasts entering and leaving the building, she said.

Kost-Lonergan started the center with her twin sister, Sandy Kost-Sterner, at the site of the old Liquor Store in the 200 block of North Centre Street in 1986. It moved to its current location at 206 N. Centre St. in 1992. Kost-Lonergan has ran the gymnastics operations solely since 2011, while Kost-Sterner, of Pottsville, has run the Spotlight Kidz theatrical group at the center since 2011. This year is its 35th season.

Kost-Sterner plans to continue running the theater program under a different entity after the center closes. Kost-Lonergan rents the space and won't renew the lease after May 28, with no plans for it after the center's closure.

Over the years, the gymnastic center has hosted the Friendship Classic International Invitational, which brought participants from 36 countries to Martz Hall for a large international gymnastics competition. The competition team has also brought home numerous medals and trophies. However, Kost-Lonergan said life skills learned at the center are ones she hopes students will take away from it, including working hard, dedication, working as a team and time management.

"A great joy is seeing our students through the years grow into confident, well-rounded people and successful adults," she said.

Kost-Lonergan added that watching students grow up at the center and bring their children to it has been one of her and her sister's "greatest joys" of their lives.

She said she informed current students and their families of the closure before it was announced on the center's Facebook page April 13. She also spoke to parents about finding a new gymnastics center for their children.

"While this is a difficult and sad time for our Pottsville GTC family, I want to view this time as a moment to look back on our many successes over the past 35 years and to celebrate the way that Pottsville GTC was so warmly embraced by thousands of people both locally and beyond," she said.

Contact the writer: clee@republicanherald.com; 570-628-6028; @Cleespot on Twitter