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Stonington Opera House

National Register of Historic Places Since 1991

The historic Stonington Opera House celebrated its centennial in 2012 – but that was only 100 years of the current structure. The building you see today is the third “amusement hall,” as it was originally called, on this site and wears the patina of more than a century of community history, events, and restoration.

The Stonington Opera House has been a multi-purpose building from its inception. Vaudeville, Chatauqua performances, plays, film, dances, high school graduations, town hall meetings, basketball games, and even roller skating have all found a home here.

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History of the Theater

Construction: 1886

Originally constructed in 1886 by Charles B. Russ as a music and dance hall, the building grew with the town as its granite quarries boomed and Stonington swelled to a total population of approximately 5,000. In 1895 a scene tower and balconies were added. At the turn of the century the building – now officially titled Stonington Opera House – seated upwards of 1,000 people and hosted national touring shows that arrived via steamboat from Rockland. This majestic building burned to the ground in 1910, the night the first fire hydrants were operational – a fact that saved the rest of the town.

Rebuilding: 1912

When the Renaissance man Dr. B. Lake Noyes undertook the charge to rebuild the Stonington Opera House after the fire, it seated only 250 people in folding chairs that could be removed for dances and basketball games, while hosting theater, graduations, and recitals.

In 1918, shortly after the birth of the movie business, Noyes was issued a license to “use cinematographic apparatus,” and movies have been shown at the Stonington Opera House ever since. By the 1940s, the town’s dentist and another Renaissance figure, Dr. Lewis G. Tewksbury, oversaw a full schedule of films, showing two a night for most nights while continuing to book vaudeville acts. He purchased and bolted to the floor the beautiful Roosevelt seats you see today.

The rise of television brought about a decline in the movie business. In 1962 the building was sold, the seats were removed, and the theater was used for roller skating.

Revitalization: 2000

Three young entrepreneurs purchased the building in 1979 and saved it from weather damage by replacing the lower roof. But the rise of home video, the decreasing year-round population, and a changing culture led them to place the building for sale again in the late 1980s.

In 1999, the building was rescued from years of abandonment and decay by Opera House Arts (OHA), a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization established specifically to restore this historic building to its original purpose as a central community institution. OHA restored the School Street wing of the building and added insulation and an energy-efficient heating system.

OHA, led by its founding directors Carol Estey, Judith Jerome, Linda Pattie, and Linda Nelson, re-opened the Stonington Opera House year-round, with programs including theatre, music, film, and community events.

Expansion: 2008

In 2008 plans began formulating for theater improvements to ensure long-term sustainability. Through the generosity of donors, over one million dollars was raised for the “Completing the Scene” capital campaign. The improvements included the construction of an 800-square-foot scene shop, separate from the theater itself, dedicated to building sets. The number of bathrooms tripled. A new lobby with added concessions was added to the west side of the theater, with panoramic windows overlooking Stonington harbor. No changes were made to the historic interior of the building or tower, and the seating and stage remained intact. As part of the capital campaign, Opera House Arts bought a building behind the theater to provide much-needed office and meeting space as well as a costume shop. Today this building also houses visiting artists.