St. Lawrence Arts & Community Center

2001 Rehabilitaion

With time running short, the Theater Campaign hustled to complete its campaign in time to open on schedule. Work focused on installing utilities and finishing the interior space. On May 10, 2001, the Parish Hall Theater opened to Acorn Productions premier rendition of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, only one week behind its schedule announced a year earlier.

Before any other work could commence in the lower level, the floor needed to be laid down. The heat was a forced hot water system with a radiant floor in the basement, powered by a boiler donated by Northern Utilities.

Once the lower level floor had been laid, work commenced on finishing the framing, installing all the utilities, sheetrocking and painting.

After finishing the Parish Hall, the Campaign equipped the theater with 100 state-of-the-art theater lights and 100 padded theater seats. The Theater opened to enthusiastic crowds and began its busy schedule in serving the arts, neighborhood and community on top of Munjoy Hill.

The cast of Much Ado About Nothing, who rehearsed in the St. Lawrence while it was still a construction zone. The performance went off without a hitch to sold-out crowds.

Mike Levine (left) executive director of collaborator Acorn Productions, instrumental in the success of the Theater Campaign, and director of Much Ado About Nothing, talking with St. Lawrence supporters Norman and Marta Morse.

The newly-furbished lobby of the St. Lawrence for opening night of Much Ado About Nothing.