Concord Theater
18 S. Main Street,
Concord,
NH
03301
18 S. Main Street,
Concord,
NH
03301
1 person
favorited this theater
I went snooping around this place, but it looked rather derelict but intact. There is a shoe repair shop let into the front of the building. The Concord NH walking tour lists it together with the "Norris Bakery" and I can’t really tell if they are saying Norris’s house with a mansard roof was the Concord Theater or not. The building I know of as the Concord Theater (the give away being the words "Concord Theater" in ceramic tiles at the door and a ticket booth) has no mansard roof and surely was never a house. Perhaps he means the SITE of Norris’s house, but anyway this is the quote… "Norris Bakery/Concord Theater 16-18 South Main Street. James S. Norris operated one of the largest bakeries in the state. In this building he made bread, crackers, and confectioneries from 1860 until the late-1920’s. During the Civil War, his business supplied two tons of bread each day to local military camps. The mansard-roof house directly south of the bakery, also built in 1860, was Norris' residence. From 1934 until 1994 the Concord Theater showed motion pictures here. Its unused auditorium was one of only two surviving downtown theaters." It has since been demolished.
Of course that’s not true either… because there were four auditoriums in Concord, NH used at one time or another for movies.
Contributed by
John Elwood
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Recent comments (view all 23 comments)
Here is a recent photo of the entrance.
Conn’s Theatre was located on School Street in Concord. Unfortunately they tore down the beautiful building to make way for an ugly parking garage, I believe in the 70’s. As a child in the 60’s I used to walk by the building on my way to shop downtown in Concord. Theresa Cantin purchased the Concord Theatre at 18 ½ South Main Street from Mr. Charbonneau around 1945. Her father, a building contractor, had helped concert the Norris Bakery into the theatre in 1934. From around 1945 on she ran the theatre with her two sisters, Laurie (a projectionist) and Rene who worked the concession stand. Their brother Maurice helped out as a projectionist. At present the building is not very sound but there is federal money available to restore historic downtown theatres. I worked at the theatre off and on from 1967, when I was 15, until it closed in 1994. The last picture to play the theatre was “Andre”. Almost until the end the theatre continued to make money. A year before it closed it sold-out a number of performances of “The Crying Game” and among the biggest hits in the 1980’s to play there were “Moonstruck”, “Pretty in Pink”, “The Shining”, “The Last Emperor. To this day I recall the line-up from the first summer I worked there – "Caprice”, “Two for the Road”, “Welcome to Hard Times”, “The Sand Pebbles”, “Hawaii”, “Woman Times Two” and “Made in Italy”. My first experience with sell-outs came later that year with “Valley of the Dolls” which filled every seat for two shows a night for the first 12 days of the engagement. Some of the biggest hits that followed included “Rocky”, “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”, “10”, “Arthur”, “Superman” and “Planet of the Apes” to name but a few. Performances in the early years were usually scheduled for 6:25 and 8:25 but Theresa always accommodated her “public” and if someone called from out of town to say they were leaving their house and would be there in fifteen minutes, it was not unusual for her to hold the show for that patron. It was an amazing experience. Theresa, the last surviving sister passed away in 1998 while in the midst of putting together a really good deal to sell the theatre and get it reopened after extensive renovations.
Chuck, this was demolished? When?
The June 7, 1947, issue of Boxoffice said: “J.E. Charbonneu, owner and operator of the Concord, Concord, N.H., for many years, has disposed of the property to Theresa Cantin, who has been booking and managing the house for some time. Charbonneau will retire from active business.”
Mr. Vogel is right about the date – thanks for checking that out. Conn’s Theatre became the American Legion Hall, per someone I spoke to that knows Concord history. It remained the hall until it was demolished in the 1970’s. AS of today, the Concord Theatre is still standing – the box office is intact but there are severe leaks in the roof. It is guesstimated to cost about $ 400 – 450,000 to bring it up to code if it were to be saved.
Here is part of an article about Jacob Conn regarding the date that Conn’s Theatre on School Street in Concord was built:
“…that when fire destroyed the old Durgin
factory on School street in 1911 he had enough
to purchase the ruins. Working nights in
the tailor shop, he spent his days cleaning
up the immense heap of blackened bricks.
In June, 1911, the cornerstone of his
theatre was laid and on October 14 of
the next year it was completed and under
his management has been most successful
ever since.“
stables.
My grandfather worked as a confectioner at the Norris Bakery in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, before it was used as a theater. It was an honore to see pictures of the old building! Thanks!
Hello, I’m working on an article about Conn’s Theater and I would love more information about the theater and Jacob Conn if anyone can help. My e-mail address is kmackenzie(at)theconcordinsider(dot)com.
Thank you!!
Did you get any responses on your questions? If not, please let me know and I’ll see if I can direct you.
Thanks
http://concord-nh.patch.com/blog_posts/the-truth-behind-the-concord-theatre