DAY TRIPPING The Park Theatre in Jaffrey: Movies and More

There's a lot of nostalgia surrounding the reopening of The Park Theatre in Jaffrey, a building that has been a part of downtown Jaffrey for nearly 100 years. &emsp;&emsp;The Park Theatre was built in 1922 by an Italian immigrant, Romolo Vanni, who owned a fruit store in Jaffrey. He originally opened it as a silent movie theater, and it seated around 400-plus people. The theater showed all the big silent films around at that time. &emsp;&emsp;After about eight years of showing silent films, the theater was converted to sound between 1929 and 1930. They also did some traveling vaudeville shows in addition to showing movies, and in the 1970s, they even added some live folk music shows. &emsp;&emsp;Vanni expanded the theater in the 1940s and turned it into a larger theater with a balcony, and made it into a much more traditional theater from the way it was originally designed. &emsp;&emsp;"Sadly, it showed its last movie in 1976, and it shut down as a movie theater," Steve Jackson, CEO and managing director of The Park Theatre, notes. &emsp;&emsp;The building still existed, though, and after the shutdown, it was turned into a retail store. Several different types of stores took up residence in the theater building. &emsp;&emsp;"It was a bike shop, and then it was an art shop," Jackson says. "Around 20 years ago, a group of citizens thought, 'maybe if a nonprofit acquired it from the owners that were running it as an art supply store, they could rehab it and open it up to help revitalize the downtown business of Jaffrey.'" &emsp;&emsp;In 2006 the building was acquired, and then the fundraising began to refurbish and bring the building up to 2006 standards, but after several years it became apparent to the Board of Trustees that there were too many issues with the building. Not only did it have structural issues, but it also had asbestos and no handicap access. &emsp;&emsp;A tough decision was made in 2013 by the board to tear down the building entirely and start over from scratch. The board felt that because the building was not an architectural gem, they could still give the community the nostalgia that they were looking for. They could also create a more functional structure that would have dressing rooms and two auditoriums. &emsp;&emsp;In December of 2013, it was torn down, and the fundraising efforts continued through 2018. Construction of the new theater started in 2019 and was completed by March of 2020. Unfortunately, the theater had to put off its opening because of the COVID-19 pandemic. &emsp;&emsp;Finally, on Aug. 5, 2021, the theater reopened to the public. &emsp;&emsp;"What we have now is two theaters," says Jackson. &emsp;&emsp;One theater has 333 seats, with a regular stage, lights, curtains and three dressing rooms. The second theater is a 77-seat auditorium for movies or events on the second floor. &emsp;&emsp;"Then, we have a large lobby as well as a large lounge for having a cocktail in the front of the theater," Jackson says. &emsp;&emsp;The theater has been showing old and new movies, and they have one of the largest movie screens in the area. It is 27-feet wide and has a 17-speaker surround sound system. &emsp;&emsp;In addition to movies, The Park Theatre also hosts concerts from local artists and bigger named artists. &emsp;&emsp;"We had a sold-out performance by Recycled Percussion," Jackson says. "You know, movies are what this theater was built upon, but we want to also feature local and regional live talent whether they are a single singer, musician, songwriter, band or orchestra." &emsp;&emsp;Jackson adds that the theater also has a monthly live stand-up comedy show called "Monad-nock-nock," Jackson adds. &emsp;&emsp;Though most of the theater construction is complete, they are still working on fundraising for lighting, rigging and sound. &emsp;&emsp;"As a nonprofit, we are always working on fundraising efforts," Jackson says. &emsp;&emsp;The Park Theatre has many live shows scheduled through the end of December and is looking into showing some big movies after Christmas. &emsp;&emsp;They will also celebrate their 100th anniversary of the founding on May 1 of next year. "There will be a lot of events around that," Jackson notes. BOX: The Park Theatre 19 Main Street Jaffrey, NH 03452 Box office: 603-532-8888 theparktheatre.org