Ridgefield Playhouse
25 Prospect Street,
Ridgefield,
CT
06877
25 Prospect Street,
Ridgefield,
CT
06877
2 people
favorited this theater
Ridgefield had two movie theaters — the Playhouse, and the Cinema. I think they were open simultaneously for a very short time, since the Playhouse closed in, and the Copps Hill Plaza, where the Cinema was located, opened in 1972.
1938 – Plans are announced in April to build “a beautiful, modern air-conditioned motion picture theater” on land to be acquired for $7,500 from the Ridgefield Library. It was the only Colonial Revival style theatre to be designed by architect John Eberson.
1940 – Ridgefield Playhouse opens March 26 on Prospect Street and shows first movie, “Broadway Melody of 1940”, starring Fred Astaire and Eleanor Powell, plus the Disney cartoon, “The Ugly Duckling”.
1970 – Closed.
1974 – The Village Bank and Trust Company, the town’s only locally owned commercial bank, opens in the former Ridgefield Playhouse building on Prospect Street.
2000 – The library buys back the old playhouse, now Webster Bank, and its land, for $1.5 million.
2009 – The library plans to demolished the building, which is on the State Register of Historic Places.
(All of the above information from “Ridgefield (CT) Time Line 1900s” at http://jackfsanders.tripod.com/timeline1900.htm)
Note: There is now a “new” Ridgefield Playhouse, that is again a single screen movie/concert venue. It is in fact the auditorium of the old Ridgefield High School, which has not been a school since the early 1970s and was rented for a while as corporate headquarters by Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals.
Anyone ever see a movie in the original Playhouse and recall what the interior was like?
Contributed by
Jeffrey Morris
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Beat me to the punch. Thanks.
Old Ridgefield Playhouse’s run extended
Fate of historic Ridgefield theater on hold until summer’s end
By Robert Miller
Staff Writer
Updated: 07/16/2009 12:04:39 AM EDT
RIDGEFIELD — The old playhouse on Prospect Street — an aging relic, but part of the town’s streetscape for nearly 50 years — will be spared, at least through the summer.
“If we can save it, great,‘’ First Selectman Rudy Marconi said Monday. "If we can’t, it’ll be a sad day for Ridgefield.‘’
“It’s something all the stakeholders really need to look at,‘’ Chris Nolan, the director of Ridgefield Library, said Tuesday.
The building, owned by the library, had figured into its long-delayed plans for expansion. But in January, the library board decided the condition of the old theater had deteriorated past the point of its use as an addition.
Rather than continue to pay about $200,000 in taxes and upkeep, the board decided to raze it.
That upset many residents, who remember the theater as the town’s foremost movie house. The theater was added to the state’s Register of Historic Places and people began to discuss its salvation in earnest.
At the request of the library board, the town’s Planning and Zoning Commission granted a 65-day stay in the demolition permit, until Sept. 18. The library board is also asking the Board of Selectmen to defer its tax payments on the building.
Marconi said that should be enough time to create a subcommittee that will try to find ways to preserve the building. Marconi has said he’s had inquiries from people who would be willing to buy the building and restore it.
“There’s no agreement, nothing
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in writing,‘’ he said. "But there are interested parties.‘’
Marconi stressed Monday the interests of the library come first in town. But he also said saving a building with historic significance in the center of town is a worthy goal as well.
He said he’s received more than 130 calls, letters and e-mails about the fate of the theater, with most urging him to try to save the building.
That many not seem like a lot in a town of about 24,500 people, Marconi said, “but normally, I don’t get any.‘’
Nolan said delaying the fate of the old theater — which until recently had been used as an office of Webster Bank — gives the town a chance to look at the short-term and long-term issues facing the library.
That was the library board’s viewpoint when it discussed the theater with Marconi in June, she said. “We need to look at the issues globally.”
The long-term problem is that the town’s library building is too small, aging and not adequate for the library’s continually increasing use.
The library board has discussed expansion for about seven years.
“We have about 24,500 people in town,‘’ she said. "The population isn’t growing that much. The library just gets used more. And we’ve been facing issues of deferred maintenance.‘’
Marconi said, however, the recession may allow the town some breathing room to plan for the future.
“Everything’s on hold,‘’ he said.
Marconi said the town, having established a village district commission to preserve the look of the center of town, should also think of buildings like the old theater, which lies just outside the town’s historic district.
“This is a building that represents a lot of history in town,‘’ he said. "Once it’s gone, it’s gone. That street will never be the same. It will always look different.‘’
Contact Robert Miller
at
or at (203) 731-3345.
About the old playhouse The old Ridgefield Playhouse was: Constructed in 1940. Designed by renowned theater architect John Eberson. The only Colonial Revival-style building Eberson designed. Of the 160 theaters he designed, only 12 still stand. Orginally a movie theater. Built by local businessman A.J. Carnell, with the backing of the library, which sold Carnell the land for the theater. Townspeople enthusiastically purchased bonds to help finance its construction. Remodeled as a bank in 1970 and now vacant. Source: State Register of Historic Places
Piece in the News-Times today on the possible closing of this great venue. I have friends that work here and that’s a sad thing. Great acoustics, great music and lots of Hollywood actors/directors that live in the area who give their time for lectures. The only problem with this venue is the WASPS who populate each show.
http://www.newstimes.com/ci_13301533
That article is about the other Ridgefield Playhouse, the newer one in the old high school. This page is for the old Ridgefield Playhouse.
Yes, the News-Times article is about the present Ridgefield Playhouse that I referred to in a note to the initial theater description. That one, the former high school auditorium, is described thusly in the article:
“The 500-seat Ridgefield Playhouse opened its doors in 2000. The old Ridgefield High School auditorium was restored to the Cass Gilbert Jr.-designed theater of its heyday. That restoration came from the generosity of many sponsors, two town funds, a state-awarded grant and more than 600 families and local businesses making donations.”
It’s interesting that even that high school auditorium has a great pedigree: designed by Cass Gilbert, Jr., the son of Cass Gilbert, famed architect who designed the Woolworth Building and the U.S. Supreme Court. The senior Gilbert had a house in Ridgefield (now the Keeler Tavern) and designed the town’s signature fountain at the intersection of Rt. 35 and 33. Gilbert Jr. was mainly known for working with his father and completing some of his projects, including the Supreme Court, after his death in 1934.
p.s. Note an error in both the “About the old playhouse” at the bottom of the July 27, 2009 post above and in the initial timeline that I posted: the timeline says it closed in 1970 and the later post says it was remodeled as a bank in 1970. I know this is not possible, as I attended a movie at the Playhouse and could not possibly have done so prior to 1971 (in fact, I thought it was 1972). Also, the posts by the former manager and the brother of the former usher above both state they worked there until 1971.
An editorial today in the News-Times about the saved demolition.
There are no small stages
Keep the arts alive at Ridgefield playhouses
Updated: 09/15/2009 08:38:50 PM EDT
Two playhouses in Ridgefield are hanging on and in jeopardy of disappearing. We certainly hope they both make it, and we urge people who support the arts on a personal and corporate level to step forward and make sure it happens.
The old Ridgefield Playhouse, across Prospect Street from Ridgefield Library, has been saved from the bulldozer, if only for now. The library, which owns the playhouse, is looking for more usable space and applied for a demolition permit to knock down the building.
Library expansion and preserving a historic landmark are both worthwhile projects. And Ridgefield First Selectman Rudy Marconi has convened a task force to see whether both can be done.
We hope they come up with a solution, and that it brings new programming — plays, film, music and fine art — to the old theater. Rather than just preserving, for its quaint appearance, a 1940 building that’s on the state Register of Historic Places, make the place breathe again.
The other Ridgefield Playhouse, which opened in 2000 in a restored theater at 80 East Ridge, has seen audiences dwindle over the last year.
Ridgefield doesn’t book the big names that play Connecticut venues such as the XL Center, Mohegan Sun Arena and Comcast Theatre (once called the Meadows). But offbeat booking should be considered the playhouse’s strength, not a weakness.
The Ridgefield Playhouse has a lineup of coming attractions that includes alternative folksinger/songwriter Ani DiFranco,
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pop/jazz trumpeter and music mogul Herb Alpert, bluesman Keb' Mo' — along with theater and film programming that includes a series of live conversations with directors.
You don’t find that kind of variety in many places.
Event sponsorship matters in determining the nonprofit Ridgefield Playhouse’s fate. So do ticket sales. If the box office steers the playhouse to tweak its booking choices toward popular tastes, that fine.
We hope the Ridgefield playhouses ride out this rough patch. Art and culture are important — in good times and bad. And there should always be a place for an independent, nonprofit venue.
That’s a wonderful editorial, though I question the idea that even if the old Playhouse building is preserved, it can be used for “new programming — plays, film, music and fine art.” Well, fine art, maybe… but the actual theater auditorium was long ago turned into bank offices.
Sean Connery plays the bad guy here in “THE ANDERSON TAPES” first run.
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