Community landmark sees massive change

Author: Polly Johnson

I've driven past that mysterious building overlooking the town green hundreds of times, wondering why it's covered in scaffolding and why I have never heard anything about it. After my Monday afternoon tour of the renovation project with Executive Director Doug Anderson, however, I learned what an interesting history the structure has and what an impressive future is in store for it.

The Town Hall Theater has a long history - it was constructed in 1884 by architect Clinton Smith to be the town hall of Middlebury. It included town offices and a theater, and it was once the cultural hub of Middlebury life. In the 1950s, however, the town offices were relocated and the building was sold. It was turned into a bar and the interior was ripped out and gutted and what was once the heart of community life slowly deteriorated into an empty, windowless shell.

I toured the building with Anderson, who was a theater professor at Middlebury in the '80s, and who works now with the music and theater departments. The outside of the building looks crumbled in places, due to the bricks that have been removed to unveil the windows. The inside looks like a construction site, although its high ceilings and big stage foreshadow a future of a beautiful theater and community space. The walls show remnants of wallpaper dating back to when it first opened in 1884. Anderson foresees the site as a completely community-oriented space, where shows, weddings and concerts can take place. He also envisions it being used by the local schools for performances.

Anderson was eager to share the Town Hall Theater's history and the current status of its renovation."There was a big movement in the 1990s to restore many of the town halls in Vermont, which had a lot to do with our senator Jim Jeffords," who provided state funding, Anderson explained. "The town pretty much forgot it had ever had a theater, and when I taught at Middlebury in the '80s, I wondered why we didn't have a theater." At the time Anderson decided to pursue the project, "it was a bar, there were no windows anywhere, it was a horrible space and only the remains of the theater were left upstairs."

Anderson worked with Christian A. Johnson Professor of Art Glenn Andres, going around town and asking local citizens about raising money. Along the way, they questioned if what they were trying to accomplish was even feasible.

Remarkably, they "got lots of great feedback from the town and we raised $500,000, with the help of the College as well." Anderson said, "So far, we've raised $1.8 million and we still have a couple million more to go." Although he noted that they will probably never make back all the money they will eventually end up spending on it, he admitted that's just what happens when you do work like this. The ultimate payoff will not be monetary, but rather it will be the excitement of having a cultural center for the residents of Middlebury.

On July 3, 2005, there will be a special ceremony, which will include returning the town bell that currently sits in front of the Sheldon Museum to the theater. Anderson told me the story of the bell - in the '50s, Sam Emilo, a controversial town resident, stole the bell from the town hall in the middle of the night because he wanted to melt it into scrap metal and sell it. The townspeople immediately responded, collecting money so that they could buy it back from him. They caught up with Emilo in Rutland and bargained with him so that Middlebury won the bell back, with the provision that Emilo be credited as the giver of the bell. Now, on the plaque next to the bell in front of the Sheldon Museum, there is a plaque that recognizes the bell as a gift from Emilo to the community.

In remembrance of that story and the townspeople who had the will to save a valuable part of Middlebury, on July 3, 2005, two Morgan Horses will carry a cart holding the bell through the town. It will be returned to the Town Hall, and will be followed by a community picnic on the town green, during which the townspeople will hear the bell's ring for the first time for decades. The community has welcomed this project with open arms, and as Anderson said encouragingly, "Everybody's behind this, everyone wants this."