Hello. My name is Chris Ducharme. I, along with my father, brother and another partner, are principal owners of the E. Turgeon Construction Corporation located here in Cranston, Rhode Island. My father is the President and worked for the last surviving Turgeon (Ed Turgeon) until he purchased the company from him in 1976. We were recently contacted by Boris W. Fedoff (cultural historian & researcher in New York City) via email about the construction of the Metropolitan Theatre here in Providence, RI. The construction company of record was “E. Turgeon Construction Company”. He tells me (and this was verified by my father) that the E. Turgeon Construction Company was owed a considerable amount of money for the construction of the theater. Shortly after it opened on August 25, 1932 (scaled down from a 4,000 seat theater w/ a 250 room hotel and 64 luxury apartments to a 3,000 seat theater with no hotel ever built) it soon closed on October 8, 1932 due to Jacob Conn’s lack of money and lack of business (considering it was during the Great Depression), and was subsequently foreclosed upon. Apparently, the Turgeons accepted the theater and another piece of land which Conn owned closeby in Onleyville (currently where the Onleyville Towers resides – built & originally owned by Turgeon Construction Company) in trade for the outstanding debt owed to them by Conn. The Turgeons ran the theater for a short time before selling it (actual dates unknown). Interestingly enough, my older brother (who does not work for the E. Turgeon Construction Corporation) married the original architect’s (Oresto DiSaia, Architect of Record – Metropolitan Theater) grand-daughter. What are the odds of that? I am fascinated about Turgeon Construction’s involvement in the construction of this theater and plan on searching our archives for any information pertaining to it. I can be reached via email: Thanks for the incredible stories and historical accounts of this once, seemingly great idea of a theater!
Hello. My name is Chris Ducharme. I, along with my father, brother and another partner, are principal owners of the E. Turgeon Construction Corporation located here in Cranston, Rhode Island. My father is the President and worked for the last surviving Turgeon (Ed Turgeon) until he purchased the company from him in 1976. We were recently contacted by Boris W. Fedoff (cultural historian & researcher in New York City) via email about the construction of the Metropolitan Theatre here in Providence, RI. The construction company of record was “E. Turgeon Construction Company”. He tells me (and this was verified by my father) that the E. Turgeon Construction Company was owed a considerable amount of money for the construction of the theater. Shortly after it opened on August 25, 1932 (scaled down from a 4,000 seat theater w/ a 250 room hotel and 64 luxury apartments to a 3,000 seat theater with no hotel ever built) it soon closed on October 8, 1932 due to Jacob Conn’s lack of money and lack of business (considering it was during the Great Depression), and was subsequently foreclosed upon. Apparently, the Turgeons accepted the theater and another piece of land which Conn owned closeby in Onleyville (currently where the Onleyville Towers resides – built & originally owned by Turgeon Construction Company) in trade for the outstanding debt owed to them by Conn. The Turgeons ran the theater for a short time before selling it (actual dates unknown). Interestingly enough, my older brother (who does not work for the E. Turgeon Construction Corporation) married the original architect’s (Oresto DiSaia, Architect of Record – Metropolitan Theater) grand-daughter. What are the odds of that? I am fascinated about Turgeon Construction’s involvement in the construction of this theater and plan on searching our archives for any information pertaining to it. I can be reached via email: Thanks for the incredible stories and historical accounts of this once, seemingly great idea of a theater!