Brownfields
Success Story
The Park Theatre - New England's
Newest Entertainment Showplace
Jaffrey, New Hampshire
The reinvention of the historic Park Theatre was just what the town of Jaffrey
needed to boost economic development in its downtown. Located in the
geographical center of New England and home to Mount Monadnock, the
second most climbed mountain in the world, Jaffrey is just a 90-minute drive
from Boston and has a small regional airport.
The Park Theatre, founded in 1922 as a movie and vaudeville house, was the
center of community life until it closed in 1976 and became a retail store. In
2.005 a grassroots campaign was launched to buy and restore the building.
After it became apparent that the building would be too costly to refurbish, it
was demolished in 2013 and the money was raised to clean and redevelop
the site.
The old theatre, above, was torn down in 2013 (photo
credit Ransom Consulting) and replaced with a new
building in 2020, below. (Photo credit Park Theater)
Priming the Property for Redevelopment
When approached by the Park Theatre's project team in 2012, the Southwest
Region Planning Commission (SWRPC) agreed to assess the property. The
Planning Commission determined the extent of hazardous building materials
and removed an underground oil storage tank. SWRPC's environmental
assessment, which uncovered a need for a significant remediation effort to
remove asbestos and lead paint, along with the non-profit's determination
that the old theatre had structural issues and required better access for
persons with disabilities, helped confirm that demolition was the only
acceptable way to move forward with the redevelopment of the new theatre
complex on the same footprint.
The theatre's board of trustees worked with a project development team,
which included a range of experts who were integral partners to the vision
and redevelopment of the Park Theatre.
Raising the more than $6 million dollars necessary to buy and build the new
theatre was one of the biggest challenges to development. Sustained support
was the key to pulling together a project of this magnitude. Funding came
from federal grants (including a $2 million loan from USDA Rural
Development), as well as donations from 75 businesses, 32 foundations and
charitable trusts and over 3,000 individual donors from four countries, 22
states and 85 communities in New Hampshire.
v>EPA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
EPA Grant Recipient:
Southwest Region Planning Commission
Grant Types:
Brownfields Assessment - $27,608
USDA Reconstruction Loan- $2,000,000
NIH CDFA Tax Credit - $640,000
Private Funding (Construction) $771,726
Current Use:
The Park Theatre Performing Art Center
Former Uses:
Silent Films & Vaudeville Theatre, Retail
Store

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New 333-seat auditorium in the Park Theater included a
27-foot wide screen and 17-speaker surround sound
system (photo credit Park Theater)
"The new Park Theatre will be a
unique venue. It's one of the only
built-from-the-ground-up, small
community-based performing
arts centers to be opened in our
region in over 50 years. It will be
a magical place for local &
regional communities, the State
of New Hampshire and New
England."
Steve Jackson,
CEO arid Managing Director
Today
The Town of Jaffrey now has a beautiful new performing arts center in its
historic downtown. The Park Theatre was completed in the spring of 2020,
with the grand opening delayed due to the pandemic.
The newly designed theatre was built to LEED Gold standards, the highest
design rating created by the U.S. Green Building Council to rate buildings on
sustainable design, construction and operation. The building has two
auditoriums, one with 333 seats and a second smaller modular-style 77-seat
space designed for more intimate performances. The larger auditorium
features a 27-foot wide screen with a 17 speaker surround system. Both
auditoriums are equipped for live performances or movie presentations. A
large lobby holds "The 5th Mountain Mosaic Mural", a 288-panel mosaic of
art work created by over 100 professional and amateur artists. A patron
lounge, a green room, two dressing rooms for performers as well as
concession cafes are also housed in the complex.
Live acts will include nationally known performance artists, comedians and
regional performers. Additionally, entertainment will include Stage2Screen
HD screenings including Royal Shakespeare, Royal Opera and Ballet. The
theatre will also show recent Hollywood movies, independent movies,
documentaries, and foreign and classic films. Talent nights, as well as
speakers, debates and storytelling will also be presented.
The theatre will also host after-school and summer programs for adults and
children in theatre crafts, filmmaking, dance, comedy, and presentations skills.
This project is the result of perserverance from public and private partners
who had the vision to seek the funding and expertise to make it happen.
Their efforts will give new life to the downtown by bringing the arts back to
this small town in the center of New England.
Then
2008
September 2013
December 2013
December 2019
Now
Summer 2021
Visioning Began
Phase II Assessment
Demolition
Construction
Underway
Grand Opening
For more information:
Visit the EPA Brownfields website at www.epa.gov/brownfields or contact
Chris Lombard at 617 918 1305 or Lombard.Chris@epa.gov
for informational use only no endorsement intended
EPA 901 F 21 010
October 2021

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