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Hyde Park residents mark partial restoration of historic theater

Print | Comments () Posted by Jeremy C. Fox January 10, 2012 01:57 PM

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(Jeremy C. Fox for Boston.com)

Standing in the restored foyer of the Everett Square Theater, property owner Pat Tierney described the long effort to restore the property.

By Jeremy C. Fox, Town Correspondent

A historic Hyde Park theater is seeing a spark of new life that many residents hope will lead to a full restoration of the nearly 100-year-old structure.

The theater on Fairmount Avenue has entertained generations of Hyde Park residents.

Photos

Everett Square Theatre renovation celebration

It opened as the Everett Square Theatre in 1915 and became the Fairmount Theater in 1934, after Everett Square was renamed Joseph A. Logan Square. In the 1970s, it was the Nu-Pixie Cinema, and it was known as Premiere Performances in the 1980s, before becoming an auction hall and then being abandoned.

Pat Tierney, the property’s owner, had long hoped to revive the historic theater, but several efforts over more than 20 years had fallen flat before the nonprofit preservation organization Historic Boston Incorporated designated Hyde Park as one of its first “Historic Neighborhood Centers” in 2008 and took an interest in the project.

With a $30,000 grant from the city’s Edward Ingersoll Browne Fund, Historic Boston and Tierney undertook the restoration of the theater’s foyer and the recreation of the original 1915 Everett Square Theatre sign.

Local residents and elected officials including Mayor Thomas M. Menino, City Councilor Robert Consalvo, and State Representative Angelo M. Scaccia gathered on Jan. 6 to mark the completion of this first phase of the work.

Speaking to a crowd of more than 50, Menino, a Hyde Park native, reminisced about his own experiences coming to this theater in his youth.

“Growing up in Hyde Park, I can remember this as the Fairmount Theater,” he said. “Coming here on a Saturday afternoon — and how much did we get then from our parents to come here? Thirty cents. Twenty cents to get in and 10 cents for a box of popcorn.”

Menino thanked Tierney and her supporters, and looking to the children present, spoke about the importance of historic preservation for future generations.

“We preserve the past for the future, so these youngsters can remember some of the things we had in this neighborhood in the past,” he said, calling on others present to support the ongoing work to restore the theater.

Tierney took the podium to recall the long road she had traveled to get this work done, starting with the replacement of a leaky roof to prevent any further damage to the theater’s elaborate woodwork. She and her business partners began an effort to restore the theater in the early 1990s but were defeated by that era’s recession. Another effort in the late 1990s also failed due to lack of funding.

The project seemed almost hopeless, she said, until Hyde Park Main Streets and Historic Boston offered their assistance. Jeffrey Gonyeau, senior project manager for the preservation group, suggested replacing the original 1915 Everett Square Theatre sign as a way to begin the restoration.

“I thought, it’s just a sign. Will it make a difference? Will people care?” Tierney said. “Well the sign is here, and now I know, yes, it does make a difference. It lights up our business district, gives energy to our neighborhood, and beautifies our streetscape.”

Tierney had thanks for many community members who had contributed to the cleanup, painting, new curtains, lighting and other work on the foyer, including her three children Joe, Deirdre, and Maura, the film and television actress, who attended the ceremony. Tierney became emotional when addressing her family, and especially when she recalled the support of her late husband, Joseph Tierney, a Boston city councilor for 16 years.

“And a special thanks to my tough angel, Joe,” Tierney said, to exuberant applause. “You know, he really, really wanted this to happen,” she continued, as tears welled in her eyes.

Gonyeau said the response from the community was already profound. “The number of calls that the sign itself has generated has been amazing,” he said. “I get calls at Historic Boston; Pat gets calls here at her office. So it’s having its intended effect.”

Consalvo, a lifelong neighborhood resident, said that historically the theater had been “really one of the center spots of our downtown business district.” He, too, commended Tierney and the neighborhood residents and historic preservationists who have worked on the project.

“I’m thrilled that the beginning of the restoration is taking place,” Consalvo said. “I think great things are going to continue to happen with this theater and with the arts in Hyde Park, and places like this are going to be the driving engine behind that.”

Roberta McGonagle, 76, another lifelong resident, remembered “going on Saturdays to the show, when in those days you could let a 9-year-old kid walk with their friends down [to the theater].”

Back then, the theater showed weekly serials, in addition to feature-length films. McGonagle recalled a favorite that she believed was called “The Black Maverick.” “It was a woman who rode a horse or something, and we were just completely enthralled by it,” she said. “There’s a lot of good memories for a lot of people here.”

And did she hope to see a show here again someday?

“Wouldn’t that be grand?” McGonagle said.

Email Jeremy C. Fox at jeremycfox@gmail.com.
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