Capitol Theater, Middletown (1926)

Former Capitol Theater

The Capitol Theater, at 350 (354) Main Street in Middletown, was opened in 1926 by two Italian-immigrant brothers, Alessandro and Salvatore Sareceno. The theater originally presented vaudeville and silent films, later becoming a movie theater. By the early 1930s, the theatre was being run by Salvatore Adorno, also an Italian immigrant, who had built the Grand Theater (later called the Palace Theater), located next door on Main Street, in 1915 and was leasing both the nearby Capitol and Middlesex theaters. The Capitol closed in 1975 and the lobby was converted to become a liquor store. The Palace Theater was demolished in 1980 to be replaced by the Middletown Transit Authority bus station. The 1892 Middlesex Theater was demolished in 1984, but the lobby was saved and is now home to the Tuscany Grill restaurant. Over the years the Capitol Theater became dilapidated. Its interior ornamentation had been removed and holes in the roof left the interior exposed to the elements. Trees were also growing on the roof! The building was declared unsafe by the city in 2009 and was finally demolished late in 2011. Today only the former lobby facing Main Street remains.

Woolsey Hall, Yale University (1901)

Woolsey Hall

Woolsey Hall in New Haven was built in 1901 for the commemoration of Yale’s bicentennial. A concert hall, it can seat 2,691. Built as one of a group of bicentennial buildings, its architects were Carrère and Hastings, designers of the New York Public Library. Woolsey Hall‘s murals that represent the ideal of a classical education and include images of the Nine Muses and the goddess Athena. The hall is home to the Newberry Memorial Organ, one of the largest in the world.

Harry O. Erickson Pavilion Hall (1897)

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Pavilion Hall in New Preston (in the town of Washington) was built in 1897 (some sources claim 1929) as a community hall for concerts, plays and celebrations. At one time, the building contained a post office and a fire engine was kept inside behind the double doors in front. Today the building is home to the Boys and Girls Club of New Preston and is named for Harry O.Erickson, a beloved community volunteer.

Ansonia Opera House (1870)

Built at 100 Main Street in Ansonia in 1869-1870, the Ansonia Opera House served as the lower Naugatuck Velley’s premier theater and public hall until the Sterling Opera House was built in Derby in 1889. The Ansonia Opera House’s hall is on the third floor of the the building, while stores are located on the first floor. Until 1910, the hall was run by a corporation called the Ansonia Hall Company, in which Jeremiah Bartholomew and his descendants held a controlling interest. Connecticut’s oldest opera house, for sixty years it was the center of Ansonia’s civic and social activity and entertainment, including graduations, dances, recitals, basketball games and boxing matches. Sometime after 1896, additional windows were added to the building‘s second floor. In 1971, the state fire marshal’s office closed the hall to public assemblies. It was later rented out as a gym and then as storage space and is currently in need of restoration.

Thomaston Opera House (1884)

The Thomaston Opera House was built in 1884 by the town of Thomaston as a multi-purpose building to serve as both town hall and theater. The stylistically eclectic structure was designed by architect Robert Hill. Granite for the building came from the Plymouth Granite Quarry in town and the bricks were made at the Seth Thomas Brick Factory. In the 1930s, the Opera House became a movie theater, but was little used in later years until eventually the building was closed for fire code violations in 1963. The Thomaston Opera House Commission worked to raise money to save the condemned landmark building from demolition. It was restored and rededicated in 1968. In recent years, the nonprofit group running the Opera House fell into debt and operations ceased in 2010. As of 2012, the Opera House will reopen under the management of the Landmark Community Theater Company.

Infinity Hall (1883)

The building now known as Infinity Hall in Norfolk opened in 1883 as the Norfolk Village Hall. It was designed by an unknown architect, but is similar to buildings in the shingle style by noted architect Stanford White. The building originally served as a cultural center and contained an opera house, general store, barbershop, saloon and several town offices. The theater closed in the 1940s and various retail businesses continued on the first floor until the building was closed in 1994. In 1998, playwrights and theater producers Maura Cavanaugh and Richard Smithies purchased and restored the building as the Greenwoods Theater, which closed in 2007 due to financial difficulties. It opened again under new owners as Infinity Hall, a performing arts theater and restaurant.