Historic Boston Incorporated 1999 Preservation Revolving Fund Casebook : Property
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| Everett Hall Theater | Hyde Park |
| • Once grand 19th century
theater has suffered from long vacancy and extensive water damage • Important spatial features of theater • Current owners have stabilized • City-funded feasibility study cites |
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| Name: Everett Hall Theater | Bldg SqFt: 8,325 | Lot SqFt: 18,074 | |
| Address: 23 Fairmount Street | Ward: 18 | Parcel: 9037 | |
| Neighborhood: Hyde Park | Zoning: General Business (B-1) | ||
| Year Built: 1875 | Use: Vacant | ||
| Style: Vaudeville theater | Condition: Poor | ||
| Architect(s): Harry Morton Ramsay (attributed) | Owner: Mary J. Stanton Trust Hyde Park, MA 02136 9 Fairmount Avenue |
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| Historic Certification: National Register eligible historic district (Hyde Park Commercial District) | |||
| FY99 Building Assessment: $185,500 FY02 Building Assessment: $386,200 |
FY99 Tax: $10,945 FY02 Tax: $15,681 |
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| FY99 Land Assessment: $110,000 FY02 Land Assessment: $130,800 |
Tax Status: Current | ||
Preservation Strategy:
HBI should encourage the owners to undertake the following actions to position themselves for MPPF grants: transfer title of the property to the owners' non-profit corporation; pursue National Register listing for the Hyde Park Historic District, in cooperation with the Hyde Park Main Street Program; and conduct a physical assessment of the theater which clearly defines scope of work and phased schedule.
Significance:
Everett Hall is a late-nineteenth century brick commercial block that fronts a vacant, but once grand theater. The Hyde Park Historical Society dates the opening of the theater to 1875. Architecturally, the front commercial block is a significant presence in the Logan Square streetscape. The interior of the theater has sustained severe water damage, yet its defining spatial elements--the lobby, marble staircase, orchestra, balcony, box seats, stage structure, and orchestra pit--are intact and still convey its former grandeur. Newspaper clippings from the early and mid-twentieth century show that the theater was a popular venue for vaudeville, live musical performances, and films.
Preservation Challenges:
The interior of Everett Hall Theater has sustained extensive water damage that caused the ceiling to collapse, destroyed much of the decorative plaster detailing, and ruined the stationary seating. The current owners installed a new roof after they acquired the building in 1992 to curtail further water infiltration, yet the interior already had sustained such severe and costly damage that the owners have not been able to make the necessary repairs to place the theater back into service. In 1997, the owners’ nonprofit organization received a $44,000 grant from the city’s Technical and Management Assistance Program to undertake a feasibility study for the rehabilitation of the theater. The subsequent study determined that operation of a rehabilitated Everett Theater could be economically viable and would provide the city with a much-needed additional medium-sized (400-600 seats) performance and rehearsal facility; yet it also estimated the cost of rehabilitating the theater at $2.7 million. The owners maintain their commitment to preserving the theater but are unable to raise the necessary funds to begin the project.
Neighborhood Context:
River Street from Logan Square to Cleary Square is the commercial and institutional heart of Hyde Park and is also the core of a potential National Register historic district that would include the Everett Hall Theater. Nearby to Everett Hall, the Riverside Theater Company has performed successfully for several years out of the Masonic Hall on Fairmount Street. The Way Building, a well-designed commercial and residential block across Fairmount Street from Everett Hall, is for sale and its purchase and rehabilitation could be an additional catalyst for the revitalization of Logan Square. A large municipal parking lot is close to the theater and stops on two of MBTA’s commuter lines are nearby.
Other Sources of Information:
Boston Performing Arts Facility Needs Assessment, Artsmark Consulting, Inc., 3/96; Everett Hall Restoration Feasibility Study for Showtime Restoration Volunteers, Inc., 1997.
Entry Completed: 05/06/1999
Showtime Restoration Volunteers, the local non-profit organized to restore the theater, has a long-term lease on the property. To procure the funding necessary to restore the theater, the organization is about to hire a professional grant writer using the $17,000 remaining from the original $44,000 grant from the city's Technical and Management Assistance Program. In order to prepare the building for the future restoration, Showtime has discarded the ruined stationary seating and removed the destroyed plaster ceiling.Update Entry Completed: 08/07/2002
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