Published: June 09, 2009 11:59 pm      

Lasky turns over keys to Westwood theater

Blake Fleegle has held just about every job a movie theater has to offer: Usher, cashier, projectionist and concession worker.

Now, he can add a new title to his cinematic resume: Owner.

At the tender age of 23, the Somerset resident has purchased the Westwood Plaza Theatre & Cafe in Lower Yoder Township.

Prominent businessman Andy Lasky already has handed the keys to Fleegle. But the two are working closely, and not much is expected to change at a small movie house that has become a Johnstown institution.

“There’s just a new person sitting at the desk,” Fleegle said Tuesday.

Fleegle’s purchase, which was completed Friday for an undisclosed price, culminates Lasky’s approximately yearlong search for a successor.

Lasky, 52, announced last year that he would attempt to sell the theater that he had extensively renovated and opened in 1993.

Lasky, who also owns City View Bar & Grill atop the city’s Inclined Plane, said the work involved with running two seven-day-a-week businesses had “taken a particular toll” on him and his wife, Katie.

But he also promised that he would not sell the theater unless he found the right buyer. And it’s clear that, in Lasky’s eyes, Fleegle fits that description.

“He’s perfect for the job,” Lasky said Tuesday. “He has five years’ experience in the business, and he’s passionate about film.”

Fleegle graduated from Somerset Area High School in 2004 and received his bachelor’s degree in business administration from Duquesne University in May 2008.

He was working in Canada for Nova Scotia’s Department of Health when his mother sent him a newspaper clipping about Lasky’s plan to sell the Westwood theater.

Fleegle and Lasky first met late last year. And not much time passed before they were drawing up a business plan.

There were 17 potentially serious suitors for the theater, Lasky said, but “none who appealed to Katie and I like Blake did.”

Fleegle carries more than a business degree. He’s a serious movie buff who, from 2001 through 2006, held a variety of titles at Somerset’s now-closed Palace Theater.

And, as his college-degree concentration in marketing and entrepreneurship might suggest, Fleegle has a no-nonsense, can-do attitude about running his own business, even though he’s little more than a year removed from the classroom.

“One of the most important things I learned was to not be scared in any scenario,” Fleegle said.

Asked about his age, he said simply: “I don’t know that it’s even a relevant question.”

Lasky agrees, noting that he was 23 when he started his first business. He also was instantly impressed with Fleegle’s knowledge of the financial end of the movie business.

“Blake was the only one who could come in and converse easily with me about box-office numbers,” Lasky said.

The theater, with its full menu and tables between every row of seats, is known as a unique cinematic venue.

And Fleegle says he has no plans to drastically shift that business model, adding that he still hopes to show some films that Johnstowners normally would not get a chance to see in a theater.

He also plans to honor all outstanding gift certificates and other offers purchased by customers during Lasky’s tenure.

In fact, the only upcoming change may be in the theater’s logo, which has long included a caricature of Lasky. Fleegle is working on a new logo that includes a film reel and a platter of food.

Fleegle has spent numerous hours in the theater’s tiny office lately. But he also has allowed himself a few minutes to reflect on the events that led him back to this area.

“Personally, it is, in my mind, a dream come true,” he said.