Touchstone

Touchstone Theatre, 321 E. Fourth St., Bethlehem, matched a $15,000 challenge grant from the R.K. Laros Foundation to replace the theater’s 25-year-old seating.

Renovation plans for the seats, carpet, and painting are to be completed in time for the theater’s most attended show of the season, the annual “Christmas City Follies.”

The completed matching pledge is supported by gifts from Air Products, Northampton County General Purpose Authority and theater patrons.

“I love that our group of supporters is so diverse. Foundation, corporation, county, patrons and company members ... what a wonderful combination of supporters reflective of our community,” said Touchstone Managing Director Lisa Jordan.

“The R.K. Laros Foundation has been a long supporter of Touchstone Theatre. We believe in their mission and look forward to the impact this much needed update will have on Touchstone in the years to come,” said R. Keller Laros III, Chair of the Foundation.

During the last three-plus decades, the R.K. Laros Foundation has supported Touchstone, with the earliest gift dating back to 1983 for a new sound system. Since then, grants have included replacing the stage floor and supporting structural work on the building, including brick and façade repair.