Fine Arts Theater (1916)

The Fine Arts Theater in Westport was built in 1916 by business partners Morris Epstein and Robert Joselovsky (Joseloff) next to the old Town Hall on the site where Petrie’s Ice Cream Parlor had stood until 1910. It began as a single screen movie theater, with a second screen being added later. Known as Fine Arts 1 & 2, they were later joined by Fine Arts 3 (located to the rear) and Fine Arts 4 (located down the road). The building‘s Colonial Revival facade was added during a renovation in 1940. The theater closed in 1999 and the building was remodeled as a retail space, first a branch of Restoration Hardware and now a Barnes & Noble.

New Video: Lost Buildings of Asylum Street, HARTFORD CT (64-110 Asylum St)

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This video is about the lost buildings that once stood on the north side of Asylum Street in Hartford, just east of Trumbull Street and the Brownstone Building. Among the businesses that occupied these buildings over the years were Katten & Sons clothing store, Hollander’s clothing store, Bond clothes, Tracy & Robinson hardware store, Harris Parker Company toy store, Gemmill & Burnham Co. clothing store and Kennedy’s clothing store.

Broad Brook Hotel (1840)

The three-story gambrel-roofed building at 98 Main Street in the village of Broad Brook in East Windsor was built in 1840. Its gable-end faces the street and has a two-level front porch with columns. When it was erected, the building was known as Hubbard’s Hotel. It was later called the Broad Brook Hotel and was owned by the Broad Brook Company. The upper floors contained guest rooms and dining facilities, with an auditorium on the third floor. The ground floor housed businesses, such as a harness shop and possibly a tin store. Other tenants over the years included the Broad Brook Library and a U. S. Post Office. In 1956 the building became the Masonic Hall of Oriental Lodge No. 111. Their previous lodge at E. W. Pigeon’s store had been wrecked in the Flood of 1955. The Lodge later moved to South Windsor.

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Broad Brook Opera House (1892)

The neighborhood of Broad Brook in the town of East Windsor was once a mill village for the Broad Brook Company, which manufactured textiles from 1849 to 1854. In 1892 the company erected the building at the corner of Main and Depot Streets, next to the Broad Brook Dam. The building had a company salesroom and shipping department on the first floor and a public hall, called the opera house, on the top floor which was used for community events. After the company moved its departments out in 1920 the first floor was used for retail stores. The Opera House on the second floor continues to host live shows today.