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Historic Hyde Park Theatre Street Presence To Be Revived
Efforts to rehabilitate the once bustling Everett Square Theatre into a multi-use performance, movie, and event venue will get a boost from interim steps to restore at least part of the site for more immediate use.
Historic Boston Incorporated is working building owner Pat Tierney to open the foyer of the former theater to public view for the first time in decades. In addition, Tierney will soon open a long-shuttered adjacent storefront as a space for events and temporary retail operations.
“We hope that completing some highly visible physical improvements in the short term will inspire the community and build support for the eventual full rehabilitation of the theater,” said Pat Tierney, Hyde Park resident and owner of the Everett Square Theatre building. “We want to enhance the streetscape and promote a vision of this site as a place for entertainment, performances and nightlife.”
There is an ongoing study to determine the feasibility of redeveloping the theater and potential uses. The multi-use commercial building on Fairmont Avenue was designed by architect Harry M. Ramsay and built in 1915 to be used for stores, offices and “motion picture exhibition.” From early on, the theater also hosted live performances and events.
The theater was renamed several times and remained open until the mid-1980s.
The two-story street front commercial portion of the building, with five retail spaces on the ground floor and several office spaces on the second floor, is in excellent condition, well maintained, and nearly fully occupied. Architecturally, the handsome, yellow brick commercial block is a significant presence in the Logan Square streetscape.
While the feasibility study is conducted, HBI is working with Tierney on a series of physical improvements to the building that could open areas that have been closed off for years.
The entry, hidden from public view for more than 25 years, will be restored and used as exhibit space for art shows or for events. The long-missing Broadway style theatre sign, which is visible on the building in several historic photographs, will be recreated and installed over the entry. Historic Boston and Pat Tierney have partnered with Hyde Park Main Streets to submit a grant to the city’s Edward Ingersoll Browne Fund to help fund this work.
The Everett Square Theater effort is a project of HBI’s Historic Neighborhood Centers program, a strategic initiative that uses the tools of real estate and historic preservation to support the revitalization of Boston’s neighborhood commercial districts.
