Belfast’s Colonial Theatre to reopen in November
Belfast’s iconic Colonial Theatre may reopen as quickly as November underneath the steering of a brand new neighborhood nonprofit.
Hawthorne Theatre & Arts Collaborative, named for Hawthorne the elephant that stands on the roof of the artwork deco theater, will take possession of the theater this month and is planning to reopen the historic venue on November 4.
The Colonial closed in September 2022 after working for greater than 100 years when homeowners Mike Hurley and Therese Bagnardi retired. On the time, it was one of many few remaining small industrial film homes within the state.
Related venues within the midcoast, together with the Strand in Rockland, the Grand in Ellsworth and the Alamo in Bucksport are run as nonprofits.
The Colonial had been on the market since 2015. A gaggle known as Save Our Colonial Theatre shaped earlier this 12 months in a bid to reopen the theater.
The Republican Journal reported {that a} sale of the theater, facilitated by Invoice and Libby Catania, who function Limina Renewal Heart, a religious retreat in Searsport, is predicted someday this week, at which level the Hawthorne Theatre & Arts Collaborative will take over operation of the theater.
In a web page on the Colonial’s web site, the Hawthorne Collaborative says the reopened theater may have new and previous motion pictures, reside music, readings, stand-up, courses and celebration leases — “every little thing you used to get from the Colonial, with the addition of a lot extra.”
For the month of October, the Hawthorne Collaborative is matching donations with funding from an nameless donor who put up $50,000 for the problem.
