“I spent hours staring at the neglected opera house with its leaky roof and peeling paint. I opened a photography gallery, Dakota Ridge, in the bottom floor of the house, with big windows overlooking the opera house.”

I was a database programmer during the week in New York, but was coming here on the weekends to ride my bike and do my photography. In 2002, I bought a house on opera house square. Hugos continued, “I discovered Jim Thorpe in 1998 on a weekend trip and bought a house on Race Street. It’s been bittersweet, for sure,” he said.Īnd what a great run it’s been. “I’ve recently been diagnosed with a neurological disease, so maintaining my health has been the number one priority for me. After 19 years, he sold his shares of the company to DeGiosio, and has retired. Today, the revitalized Mauch Chunk Opera House has grown into one of the region’s top music venues and one of Jim Thorpe’s biggest attractions, drawing hundreds of fans into town every weekend.īut for Dan Hugos, the founder of JTAMS with business partner Vincent DeGiosio, the company that produces shows at the opera house, it’s the final curtain. I t started as a wistful late-night idea nearly 20 years ago while sitting on a front porch stoop.

Mauch chunk opera house box office