The building, at 1131 Washington Boulevard, which had served, among other things, as a place of worship and a theater, has been reborn as “The Palace Party and Event Center.”

“It really wasn’t my dream to have an event space, but I’m just into making all things new — refurbishing, construction — that sort of thing,” Campbell said recently. “When I saw this building, I just knew that I had to make it live again.”

Originally from Williamsport, Campbell, who had lived in California for close to 20 years before returning here, said that she kept passing by the building and thought it would be a great fixer-upper.

The building, which is in the Art Deco style, was constructed in the mid-1950s to house the local congregation of the Jehovah’s Witnesses and was called Kingdom Hall.

In 1980, the property was purchased by the Community Theater League, which remained there until the late 1990s when it moved to the Trade and Transit Center.

A series of tenants followed, both commercial and residential, although none seemed to remain for long. Then the building sat empty until Campbell and her mother, Catherine Gibson, purchased it.

Taking on a project like this showcased Campbell’s construction skills, something she learned from her mother, who actually owned a construction company at one time. Her father, who grew up in Williamsport, was also in the construction industry.

“I had some great mentors growing up,” Campbell said. “I grew up playing on construction equipment. I grew up in fixer-upper houses.”

“I’m really just self-taught. My mother has been buying properties here for probably more than 40 years,” she said.

KAREN VIBERT-KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette Elizabeth Mosley, left, Tia Campbell, middle and Catherine Gibson, right, at renovated Palace in Williamsport.

“Since she was little, she could look at something and do it,” her mother interjected.

That innate ability served Campbell well as she took on the renovation of the Washington Boulevard property.

First the outside of the building needed to be updated and some repairs made.

“We had to do all of the painting outside. We did the windows. The front needed a little touching up here and there. Some of the stucco and the bricks needed to be repaired,” Campbell said.

The biggest job at the front of the building was constructing a ramp for handicap accessibility. She did the prep work for that part of the project, but did have help for the cement work, she said, from someone who had more experience.

KAREN VIBERT-KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette The Palace, party and events center on Washington Blvd.

Moving inside, there was electrical work and renovations to a bathroom to make it handicap accessible as well as putting in new flooring, which Campbell did herself. She admitted that there wasn’t “too much that she didn’t have her hands on” during the renovations, except for the electrical and plumbing.

All in all, it took about a year from the time they purchased the building until it was ready to open for events. And the community response has been great, she said.

“Even when I was working on it, some days I was here and it was so hard. It’s so hard doing something like this by yourself, because it really takes self-motivation,” she said.

While she was working on the outside of the building, Campbell was encouraged by people who would honk as they drove by.

“I had kids stop and get me water. So, I love the community response and I’ve been getting a great turnout so far,” she said.

Campbell opened the remodeled building for event bookings last fall.

“I just wanted this to be an anything you can think of spot, and that’s what it’s been,” she said.

“If you want to do a comedy night, we can do that. We have people who wanted to do poetry. We even had people who were interested in doing plays again in here,” she added.

The Palace has hosted anniversary parties, birthday parties and meetings, to name a few.

“It’s really anything, but that’s really what I created it for because I have so many different things going on,” Campbell said.

Future plans for the building include renovation of the lower level and to put in a commercial grade kitchen. But for now, Campbell just hopes the venture will prosper.

“I’m looking to have more events that focus on community outreach,” she said.

A self-professed “go-getter,” Campbell said that she focuses on her passions in life.

“Whether it’s making money or not right now…I just do it anyway because eventually things will catch on,” she said.

“I like being a front runner. I like running in my own lane. I don’t like looking back or looking to my side, I just do my own thing,” she added.

More information about The Palace Party and Event Center can be found online.