Gewas Schindler is the newest member of the Irem Temple Restoration Board.
Submitted photo
Gewas Schindler brings passion for history, ancestral roots to project
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WILKES-BARRE — The team in charge of revitalizing the Irem Temple has welcomed a new board member with extensive ties to the region.
Gewas Schindler will relocate his entire family to Luzerne County to get on board with the project, which hopes to restore and re-purpose the North Franklin Street structure for a variety of functions, including an open-floor music/event venue and a museum showcasing local history.
Schindler also will be part of a Jan. 18 event to raise awareness of the project and local history.
The structure was constructed in the early 1900s and served as a performing arts venue in the city throughout the 20th century. With the help of the nonprofit Irem Temple Restoration Project, including Schindler’s involvement, organizers hope the property will once again return to life.
Through the estimated $10.5 million project, the Irem will be restored to feature 6,000 square feet of seat-free flat space for performers like jam bands, electronic dance music performers and heavy metal/hard rock bands, as well as almost 500 balcony seats.
Aside from the performance venue, the main hall will offer space for weddings, trade shows, farmers markets and flea markets and the basement will transform into a museum complete with a time-lapse “living map room” and exhibits of local historic artifacts and memorabilia.
The historical part of the project is what Schindler hopes to contribute his expertise to the most. The 47-year old Syracuse, N.Y. native has deep ancestral ties to the region that he hopes to shed light on in the new museum.
His history with the area goes back to when he was just nine-years-old.
“My grandfather was from the Onondaga Nation (one of the five original nations of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy in the Northeastern Woodlands), and he had lots of friends in this area. He really loved the Wyoming Valley,” Schindler said.
“One day, my grandfather got a call from a couple of friends here and they said they were doing digs to develop the waterfront on the Susquehanna River — specifically here in Wilkes-Barre and Scranton — and they found a lot of artifacts and a lot of bones of our people,” he added.
Schindler was with his grandfather as he performed a reburial ceremony for the over 300 bones found during the dig. According to him, the ceremony was complete with the ritual burning of native tobacco, which carries words from the smoke to “the creator — our God”.
This is just one bit of the history that Schindler hopes to resurface with the Irem Temple museum plans.
“I want to bring my knowledge from the Six Nations Confederacy and my people being here originally to show how we used to live in the Valley for centuries and how the Susquehanna meant so much to us,” Schindler said.
“We’re going to mimic a couple hundred years of history in this museum, so my biggest objective is to really make that spectacular and show exactly what it was. A lot of people don’t know all the details, and we really want to make it educational in that way and tell the right story in the right way with the right backings,” he added.
Event will honor Wilkes-Barre’s history
With the history that surrounds Wilkes-Barre, it’s only right to honor it, Schindler said.
“With Wilkes-Barre being such a historical city, there’s a lot of forgotten history and education to be taught. We have a plethora of beautiful buildings and not many cities have that, so you have to hold on to that history and culture, and Irem Temple will be able to do that with a lot of entertainment to go along with it,” he said.
In that spirit, the restoration project will host an “Irem Temple Restoration Project University” event on Jan. 18 to offer a crash course on some of the Wyoming Valley’s history.
Guests will attend three “semesters,” or presentations — from Schindler, Wilkes-Barre City Councilman Tony Brooks and Clark Switzer — take a final exam, earn a diploma and celebrate the achievement with a graduation party.
Schindler will discuss the history of the Haudenosaunee Six Nations from the 1600s to the late 1800s, while Brooks and Switzer will discuss the founding of Wilkes-Barre through the aftermath of the American Revolution.
“I will be focusing on that and really covering those early years about my people and how the Valley was prosperous. It’s going to be very educational,” he said.
The event will begin at 5 p.m. on the third floor of 1 S Main St in Wilkes-Barre. Tickets are $30 and can be purchased at iremtemplerestorationproject.com