Fairmount Theatre
17 Fairmount Avenue,
Boston,
MA
02136
17 Fairmount Avenue,
Boston,
MA
02136
2 people
favorited this theater
The Fairmount Theatre in the Hyde Park section of Boston was opened in 1915 as a vaudeville and film neighborhood theatre. It was originally called the Everett Square Theatre and briefly the New Pixie Theatre.
During the 1950’s it was an ATC – American Theatres Company movie house. After it closed, it served as an auction house. Now, a group has taken it over, cleaned it up, and has plans to reopen it as a live theatre.
Contributed by
Ron Salters
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Recent comments (view all 23 comments)
That would be so cool to have the Fairmount Theatre restored as a movie theatre. If that be the case, here’s hoping that they don’t play the same sort of schlocky films that most movie theatres these days play, but a mixture of Classic films, independent films, etc.
According to City of Boston building department records, the multi-use commercial building originally numbered 3-27 Fairmount Avenue (now 1-11 Fairmount) was designed by architect Harry M. Ramsay in 1914 and completed early in 1915. The cost of construction was $65,000 and the 1914 building permit notes that the building was to be used for “stores, offices, and motion picture exhibition.â€
The original owner and developer was the Littlefield Trust, Walter S. Littlefield, Trustee/Manager. The Littlefield Trust’s application to the City of Boston Building Department to operate the “Everett Sq. Theatre” as a “moving picture house†was approved on April 14, 1915.
A March 23, 1915, building permit seeks permission to construct a projecting sign with “Everett Sq. Theatre” spelled out in metal pan letters and bare bulbs; a historic photo exisits of the building with this sign in place. As well, a plaster cartouche in the theatre’s proscenium arch features an intertwined “E” and “S” referring to “Everett Square.”
An August 11, 1934, building permit sought to replace the original sign and marquee. While the content of the sign was not specified, this probably corresponded to the change in the theatre’s name to the “Fairmount Theatre,” which took place by 1935. This name change was likely in reaction to the rededication of nearby Everett Square (at the intersection of Fairmount Ave. and River St.) as “Joseph A. Logan Square” in 1933. “Everett Square” became obsolete.
In spite of the emphasis in the building department records on movies, it is clear that from early on the theatre also hosted live performances, music, and events of various kinds. A combination of first-run movies, double features, and cartoons along with live actsâ€"particularly those featuring local amateur talentâ€"continued into the 1940s.
The theatre was again renamed in the late 1960s, becoming the Nu-Pixie Theatre. Apparently only used as a cinema, the Nu-Pixie operated into the 1980s.
(This building has been confused in other sources with “Everett Hall,” which was a third-floor gathering and performance space in a ca. 1875 building around the corner on Rvier St., and with the Riverside Theatre Works, which is a non-profit organization running performing arts educational programming (as well as performances) at the 1897 French’s Opera House down the block at 45 Fairmount Ave.)
The information above was uncovered as part of the work of Historic Boston Incorporated’s Historic Neighborhood Centers program, which has been working with Hyde Park Main Streets in Logan and Cleary Squares since 2008. A key project identified by the HNC program is to assist the Everett Sq. Theatre’s owner and the surrounding community with planning to rehabilitate this important Hyde Park building. Jeffrey Gonyeau, HBI
Thanks to Jeffrey Gonyeau of HBI for researching and posting these details about the Fairmount Theatre.
In a 1918 Boston street directory, this theater, as the Everett Square Theatre, is listed at 17 Fairmont Avenue in Hyde Park. The location of French’s Opera House (now Riverside Theatre Works) at 45 Fairmont is listed as the “Masonic Block”.
There’s a short YouTube video of what the theater currently looks like here. And there’s a Facebook page here.
The theatre is in the process of trying to get restored through the efforts of Historic Boston, Inc. So far they have managed to get a recreation of the original marquee sign put in place: http://www.historicbostonblog.org/2011/11/bit-of-broadway-returns-to-hyde-park.html#more
The sign was dedicated on 1/6/12 with the mayor doing the honors. Hopefully it’s the start of a bigger preservation effort for the theatre.
The new sign looks great- a copy of the 1915 sign for the Everett Square Theatre, complete with working light bulbs. It’s something like the lighted sign which was on the Exeter Street Theatre in the Back Bay. Thanks to Ed Findlay for finding this link.
Ron you might like this more- some shots from inside the theatre at the lighting event: http://www.boston.com/yourtown/boston/hydepark/gallery/everett_square_theatre_restoration/
It’s nice to see the new sign and also the refurbished foyer. I was surprised when looking through the photos posted in the link above to see that the stage has some sort of fancy wood structures on it, something like the enclosed stage of Jordan Hall in Boston. I hope that this restoration project continues.
Well, the last picture I saw of the theater interior in the 1990s, the ceiling plaster had collapsed from water damage. Looks like the owners have stabilized it, but it’s a long way off from being restored, and, quite frankly, it’s out of the way with no nearby parking in a congested neighborhood, so future use would be limited.