Victory Theatre
81-89 Suffolk Street,
Holyoke,
MA
01040
81-89 Suffolk Street,
Holyoke,
MA
01040
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So nice to read this update!
Its is under renovation and to reopen in a couple of years I have heard.
And the photo tour was really nice to see…almost made it seem like you were actually there walking around. The round lobby is quite unusual as I personally don’t know of another theatre with this unique lobby design though I’m sure there may be others. I must now read the history and learn how and why this theatre was neglected.
Ross: The video is fantastic and shows what dedicated theatre folks can do to preserve a once grand theatre! I hope to see it someday in my travels.
A link to video of the interior.
Here is a direct link to the Victory Theatre article in the Valley Advocate:
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Here is a direct link to their 360 degree photo tours:
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Some of the recent publicity I’ve seen regarding the Victory’s history mistakenly reports that the Victory opened as a “stage theatre†and later was converted to movies. This is entirely incorrect. Samuel and Nathan Goldstein of Western Massachusetts Theatres Incorportated (at that time known as “G.B. Theatresâ€) were early pioneers in the movie business, having started in the first decade of the 20th century operating what were then known as “nickelodeons†which were storefront movie houses. Along with The Broadway Theatre in Springfield, the Victory represented their expansion into the “major leagues†as they rode the crest of the wave of the movies’ exploding popularity at the end of World War I. The Victory’s name itself is a reference to the Allied Victory in the World War the year before on 11 November 1918. The Eagle Medallion at the center of the proscenium ties it all together.
In the 1920s these grand theatres were known as “presentation houses†and offered a combined bill of a silent film and a stage show on the same program and for a single admission price. The performances were often presented on a “continuous show†basis. The Victory Symphony Orchestra provided accompaniment for the film and music for the live show as well. The Grand Organ often substitued for the orchestra during matinee performances. The relatively shallow depth of the Victory’s stage suggests that it was designed for “vaudeville†type acts presented along with a film, rather than fully mounted stage productions. The arrival of “talking pictures†in the late 1920s resulted in the eventual elimination of the live portion of the program.
The Victory continued to operate on a continuous show basis through the early 1970s, opening daily at 1:00 P.M. and running double feature film programs continuously until 11:00 P.M. During the years of World War II opening time was often as early as 8:45 A.M. with showing continuous from 9:00 A.M. through 11:00 P.M. The early opening was to accomodate war workers in Holyoke’s factories who worked the 11:00 P.M. to 7:00 A.M. shift and would stop at a restaurant to eat and then take in a movie on their way home from work!
Article and panoramic photos of the Victory at:
http://www.valleyadvocate.com/
There’s a whole bunch (48 total) of interior photos of the Victory at Rambling VanDog’s Flicker site:
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An interior shot of the auditorium can be found here while the article remains on the internet. It will take a lot of work to bring this theatre back from the looks of it.
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Click on photo to enlarge it.
The Victory makes the local news yet again:
Sale of Victory Theatre in Holyoke to Mass. International Arts Festival paves way for building’s eventual reopening
By Sandra Constantine
October 07, 2009, 7:15PM
HOLYOKE â€" There were cheers, applause and thanks all around Wednesday as officials marked a unanimous vote of the City Council to convey the mothballed Victory Theatre to the Massachusetts International Arts Festival.
The press conference, in front of the building and attended by more than 50 people, was a celebration of the Sept. 15 vote.
“Help and life is on its way,†said Donald T. Sanders, the festival’s executive artistic director. The sale for $1,500 will allow the arts organization to move forward with its $24 million plans to refurbish the 1920 building in time for reopening Dec. 30, 2012, 92 years after it first opened. It has been closed since 1979.
The rehabilitation of the rundown theater has long been the focus of various local groups starting more than 20 years ago. Officials see it as a way to bring arts and culture back to the city’s downtown as well as a being an engine for economic development.
“Arts and culture is a way to bring people downtown to enjoy the rich history that we have here in our city,†said Kathleen Anderson, the city’s director of planning and development, following the press conference.
Sanders, whose organization has worked for the last several years to bring about restoration of the building, thanked more than two dozen people by name at the event for their help in the effort.
He hopes to break ground on the project in the spring now that the sale is imminent. Representatives of Nessen Associates Ltd., an economic development and financing group, and Architectural Heritage Foundation, an architecture firm, also spoke. Those two Boston-based organizations are the arts group’s partners in the project.
Both groups have extensive experience in doing similar projects. Nessen has done work on the Boston Conservatory of Music and the Hanover Theatre in Worcester. Architectural Heritage has assisted in the development of Quincy Market in Faneuil Hall in Boston.
“This can actually happen,†Sean McDonnell, president of the architecture group, said. “When it’s done we will wonder why it took so long.â€
“This is a great labor of love,†Robert L. Nessen, a partner in Nessen, said.
Sanders said he will announce the kickoff of a capital campaign to fund the project in the near future. He anticipates raising 60 percent to 80 percent of the funding outside the community as was the case in a similar theater restoration project in Pittsfield.
Massachusetts International Festival of the Arts can be found here:
http://www.mifafestival.org/
From today’s Springfield Republican:
Plans for a three year, $25 million renovation of the closed Victory Theatre will be discussed at a press conference Wednesday at 11 a.m. in front of the building at 81-89 Suffolk St.
Massachusetts International Festival of the Arts, a non-profit group, recently purchased the building from the city for $1,500 after unanimous approval of the city council on September 15. The theater, which has more than 1600 seats, opened in 1919 and has been closed since 1979. The planned reopening is December 30, 2012, said Donald T. Sanders, exective artistic director of the Massachusetts International Festival of the Arts.
Here is a 1979 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/d7955g
A friend attended the Open House last Saturday at the Victory and was very impressed with the theater’s interior. He noted that there is a steep, high rear section at the back of the balcony and wonders if that is the reason why the roof is elevated at the rear of the building.
From the Republican:
Public to get view of Holyoke’s aging Victory Theater
by The Republican Newsroom Saturday September 20, 2008, 12:37 PM
HOLYOKE – Large red pieces of plywood cover most of the entrance to the Victory Theater.
But go through a plain door cut out of the plywood and you’re suddenly inside the vast, painstakingly decorated grand dame of the Paper City. Hand-cut Vermont marble adorns part of the floor. Brazilian mahogany lines the sweeping staircases leading to the balcony. Intricate, floral-patterned plaster surrounds the stage walls like an elegant frame.
And from high above through a skylight, light streams out onto the stage. The natural light is the only light in the theater. Otherwise, you need flashlights to see all the carefully crafted details in this 1,600-seat theater at 81 Suffolk St.
The theater has been closed since 1979. But Saturday at 10 a.m., the public will get a chance to go inside the theater for the first time in nearly three decades.
“We wanted people to see it before,” Donald T. Sanders said, standing near the stage inside the vast theater.
Before, Sanders hopes, the rebirth of the Victory Theater begins.
“Once they see it, people will know it’s a jewel and a valuable place,” Sanders said.
Sanders serves as executive artistic director of the Massachusetts International Festival of the Arts, the non-profit organization overseeing the renovation of the theater and which will be offering free tours of the theater on Saturday.
The organization is completing a use analysis of the building, Sanders said. “You don’t want to do anything until you know what needs to be done.”
The analysis should be completed next month, Sanders said. Then comes the difficult task of finding the funding for the project. A combination of federal, state, local and private funding will likely be necessary to pay for such a large-scale project. Sanders is also banking on a loan from the Massachusetts Housing and Investment Corporation, which has provided funding for similar historic theater renovations in Worcester and Pittsfield.
No specific price tag has been determined for the Victory Theater project, but Sanders said he estimated the renovation and repair work will cost about the same as the theater restoration projects in Pittsfield ($25 million for the Colonial Theater) and Worcester ($31 million for the Hanover Theater project).
Such figures might seem daunting. But Sanders remains optimistic, especially when he actually goes inside the Victory Theater. Walking around the theater last week wielding a flash light, Sanders sounded like a proud parent as he pointed out different architectural details inside the theater which first opened in 1919.
Such details included the art deco style bathrooms on the second floor balcony. The tiled drop ceiling with recessed lighting on the second floor. The thick, ornately decorated red and green sheets of silk blanketing several walls. The large oval on the first floor ceiling which used to be open and which Sanders hopes to restore in order to give the first floor a more open, airy feeling.
“It’s sort of phenomenal any of this has remained,” Sanders said.
People can find out for themselves on Saturday. For more information about Saturday’s tour, call (413) 540-0200.
“I get the impression that hope for the Victory is indeed dead.”
Let us hope not.
Roger, I get the impression that hope for the Victory is indeed dead. I can find nothing on the internet for the Save the Victory group, and no other group has formed to take over the task from the Save the Victory people. I suppose as long as the building still stands there is a small hope, but as of this summer it will be 29 years that this great old palace has been closed. Like the Loews Kings in Brooklyn, time itself is not making it any easier to reopen this once proud place.
The website up top which used to be to save the Victory Theatre now is about saving the California Victory soccer team in San Francisco. Are hopes for this theatre dead?
Nobody is going to accuse anyone of anything, except perhaps not contributing any great stories about the Victory and just using this wonderful old theatres site to complain about the problems of the city of Holyoke instead.
I wish that I had the enthusiasm of the previous posters pertaining to the future of the Victory. There is no way Holyoke and Northampton can be compared. Northampton has plenty of $$$$$ coming in just from Smith alone. I know that Mr. Ko is going to accuse me of being a bigot, but has anyone traveled through Holyoke? Nobody is going to invest in a city of boarded up buildings and residents roaming the streets or spending days sitting on car hoods. The sad part is Holyoke has many beautiful sections. But how many people from those sections would be willing to participate in downtown functions?
I worked at the Victory for a while around 1974, doing box office / ushering / concession, etc. and subsequently worked at several other area movie houses in the area including the Strand in Westfield, the Grand in Indian Orchard and the 2 screen “cineplex” that was in what was then a mall (remember Almy’s and Paysaver?) down in the hole behind McDonalds on Northampton St.
Of course, I also have many fond childhood memories of going to the movies at the Victory, but it was during the time that I worked there that I had opportunity to explore the building a bit and really came to appreciate this theater. Of course by then, the Victory had already suffered significant neglect and was in serious decline, but it was still apparent through the grime, disrepair, patched seats, and worn frayed carpets, that this was a truly magnificent building.
I distinctly remember the marble staircase to the 2nd floor lobby, the beautiful mohogany woodwork, the ornate lighting fixtures and wall tapestries. Even as a teenager, I recall being saddened that this jewel of a theater was falling further and further into disrepair. I seem to remember that in addition to the wonderful sound system that other posters have talked about, that there was a beautiful organ there as well, although at this point I wouldn’t rule out my confusing that with the organ at the Paramount in Springfield.
I applaud those who are working diligently on the effort to restore the Victory. Whether it can be the economic spark that downtown Holyoke needs is debatable, but one need look no farther than a few miles up Rt. 5, to Northampton, to see an example of a vibrant small city with a strong downtown shopping district, world class dining, and an exciting arts and nightlife scene. An active Victory theater, restored to its former glory, may just be the critical piece of the puzzle that brings people to downtown Holyoke and sparks a revival of supporting dining and shopping venues and a general rehabilitation of this proud city’s downtown.
I look forward to the day when there is news about real work going on to refurbish the Victory and will likely find myself volunteering to help, if for no other reason than to get a look at how far the Victory slipped before she begins her “Extreme Makeover”.
I meant to mention this when I posted the piece from the Springfield Republican on August 30th. There are several inaccuracies of various importance contained in this article. The most important one is the line:
“…Plans for the theater – originally designed as a "Renaissance theater” and converted in 1939 to a movie theater…"
The Victory Theatre, from it’s opening right after the end of World War I (and thus the name Victory) was both definitely designed for and playing movies from the first day it opened.
Ken,
Thanks for your memories of the Victory. It will always have a very special place in my heart as it was the first theater I ever attended. That was in 1961 at the age of two, to see “The Absent Minded Professor”. I can still remember waiting in line for tickets. It was a very hot day and the line was all the way around and passed the Roger Smith Hotel (later called the Holyoke House). I remember standing there on Maple Street looking at thunder clouds in the distance that were so dark they were purple. That storm broke during the movie, I can still remember the tremondous sound of thunder reverberating through that great old theater. I can also remember the very warm and “boomy” sound of the Victory’s excellent sound system. Of course, as loud as all that was, it couldn’t compete with the sound of almost 2000 lauging kids. But my favorite story from the Victory was seeing “Mary Poppins” there with my sister and Grandmother (who was all dressed up and wearing her best pearls!!! My have times changed). Sitting ahead of us were two very elderly ladies. When the movie ended one turned to the other and said, “I rather liked it, but didn’t it seem like more of a children’s picture?” I guess it really is true (at least back then) that some people went to the movies with no knowledge of what they were about to see, they just wanted to get out of the house.
I worked at the Calvin also Ken! In 1980, I did box office, refreshment stand, and custodial duties as well. Loved that theater, Northampton is very lucky to have it still standing considering the fate of so many theaters that were a part of the infamous Western Ma. Theater chain. Same goes for the former Paramount in Springfield. I hope that place is treasured for decades to come.
As for the Strand, my main memories of it were as a fan of the horror movies playing there in the very early 70’s. Movies like “Dr. Phibes”, “The House That Dripped Blood”, “Asylum”, and “Scream and Scream Again” were not going to win any awards, but for a 12 year old they were great fun, and the Strand was a perfect place to see them. In between the horror, the Strand was doing “A” pictures there second run, and I saw a lot of those at that time as well. For some great info on these old places, check out DrRussD’s comments on the Strand and the Paramount (now Hippodrome). With much anticipation I’m waiting for his history of the Victory to be added here!
Steve,
I was the manager of the Victory (and the Strand) around the corner back in 1973. I took over when Wright Enterprises bought out Western Mass Theater Associates. It was a beautiful theater. At that time we still were getting some good crowds.
We premiered “The Way We Were” in December 1973 and it was very successful.
Back then, downtown Holyoke was still a vibrant city, though on the decline. The city merchants tried their best to generate interest in shopping downtown, but to no avail.
I also remember a great little drugstore across the street that still served soda’s mixed from a fountain!
As for the Strand… it had seen better days and was mostly soft porn at that time.
I didn’t stay too long at the Victory (a few months I think). I was moved to the Calvin Theater in Northampton as we continued to clean up and at least put some fresh coats of paint on the new additions to Wright Enterprises.