The modernistic brick building at 129 Main Street in Danbury has glass block windows on the second floor. Designed by William E. Lehman, it was originally built in 1929 as a Sears, Roebuck and Co. store and is now a Salvation Army Family Store and Donation Center.
A dramatic example of Modern architecture on the campus of Choate Rosemary Hall in Wallingford is the private school’s Paul Mellon Arts Center, also called the PMAC. Designed by I. M. Pei, it was completed in 1972. The western section of the building contains a 770-seat theater, while the eastern portion has fine arts studios, music classrooms, music practice rooms and a 100-seat recital hall. Connecting the two sections underground is the Chase-Bear Experimental Theater, known as the “Black Box.” In 2015, the School received a $10 million gift to renovate building, primarily the main stage theater, which was renamed the William T. Little ’49 and Frances A. Little Theater in honor of the donors.
The University of Saint Joseph in West Hartford is a Roman Catholic coeducational institution of higher education that was founded in 1932 as a college for women. The University‘s Chapel, built in 1965-1966, was the gift of Joseph and Jane Cullen Connor. Joseph passed away two weeks before the ceremonial groundbreaking, which took place on July 16, 1965. Jane broke ground and as she dug in her shovel she prayed “May all who enter this Chapel be saved.” These words are inscribed on the narthex floor inside the main doors. The Connor Chapel of Our Lady has the shape of a cross and the interior focuses on a central raised altar.
The original St. Colman’s Catholic Church in Middlefield stood at the corner of Main and Stow Streets. The cornerstone was laid in 1886 and the church opened its doors on August 7, 1887. Construction was completed in 1889 and fourteen stained glass windows were installed the following year. It was a mission church under St. John Parish in Middletown until 1903, when it became a mission of the newly formed St. Francis Parish in Middletown. The last service in the old church was held on September 16, 1962, the same day that the new Church of St. Colman, located at 170 Hubbard Street, was dedicated. The church was granted full parish status in 1964.
Bishop John J. Nilan created Holy Rosary Catholic parish in 1908 to serve Ansonia’s Italian immigrants. The parish worshiped at the former Assumption Parish Church on Main Street (a new Assumption Church had just been erected on North Cliff Street). A new Holy Rosary Church, built at 10 Father Salemi Drive, was dedicated in 1967.
When it opened in 1959, the stylishly modern Grantmoor Motor Lodge, 3000 Berlin Turnpike in Newington, was billed as “Gracious Grantmoor” and offered travelers a pool, golf course and restaurant/banquet hall (the latter added in 1960). When I-91 was built in 1965 it bypassed traffic away from the Turnpike and the Grantmoor soon switched to a more adult theme that included mirrors on the ceilings. (more…)
Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Parish was established in Hartford in 1958 to serve the local community of immigrants from Portugal and the Azores. The founding pastor, Father José Dias Martins da Silva, purchased a vacant Danish Lutheran Church on Russ Street where the parish worshiped until the basement chapel of a new church was completed in 1986. Our Lady of Fatima Church, located at 50 Kane Street in Hartford, was dedicated on April 30, 1988. The parish also later erected a community center.
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