The St. Lawrence Arts Center is owned and operated by the non-profit corporation Friends of the St. Lawrence Church, a 501(c)(3) tax exempt organization created in 1996 to restore the historic St. Lawrence Church and return it to use as an arts center. The St. Lawrence  has a 3-part mission:

• Arts & Culture: creating an affordable and accessible venue for a diverse offerings of arts including but not limited to theater, dance, music, film, and workshops;
• Neighborhood &  Community: adding activity, entertainment, cultural enrichment, social interaction, renovation and investment that serve both the surrounding neighborhood of Munjoy Hill as well as the residents of Greater Portland.
• Historic Preservation: rehabilitating this local and national landmark with the adaptive reuse of an arts center.

The Friends of the St. Lawrence Church has an active board of directors, and two full-time and one part-time staff members. Starting at its creation in 1996, the organization raised $1.5 million and renovated half of the building, opening the 110-seat Parish Hall Theater in May, 2001 (Phase I). The St. Lawrence manages the theater house and rents the facility to artists and production companies. The yearly operating budget of approximately $140,000 is supported fully by revenues from the theater operation and unrestricted fundraising (annual fund, etc.).

The Building
The St. Lawrence Church was built in 1897 by its congregation who lived in the neighborhood blocks surrounding the building, creating a place for community involvement from the very beginning. Built in the Romanesque Queen Anne style with fanciful architectural features such as turrets and a belfry, the granite and slate building has long been admired for its beauty and was listed as a national landmark in the National Register of Historic Places in 1979 and as a local landmark by the City of Portland in 1990. Its original congregation dwindled and went extinct, closing the church’s doors in 1986. Water damage and neglect were taking their toll and the city was close to condemning the St. Lawrence when the Friends of the St. Lawrence Church finally purchased the deteriorating historic structure in 1997.

The interior of the St. Lawrence is no less impressive than its exterior for its functionality as well as beauty. Although more austere than the ornate exterior, the interior is decorated with wood wainscoting, two tiers of stained glass windows and high, wooden ceilings. The building splits into two halves – the Parish Hall and the Sanctuary. The Sanctuary was more grand with 40 foot vaulted ceilings, raked (sloped) floor and circular pews seating 400 radiating like an amphitheater from the altar. Even in its dilapidated state the room never failed to impress, not only with its grandeur but with its obvious potential. The 110-seat Parish Hall Theater, while not as grand, has been serving the artistic community since May 2001 with its accessibility, affordability and intimacy lauded by performers and audiences alike.

The Neighborhood and Community
The St. Lawrence Church is located in the middle of the dense residential neighborhood of Munjoy Hill in Portland, Maine, taking up an entire city block. As were many churches before television, the St. Lawrence was the social focus of the neighborhood, hosting scout troops, Saturday matinees, public suppers and amateur theater. The building’s decline physically affected the entire neighborhood, which was also in a blighted state, and the subsequent St. Lawrence Rehabilitation have been accompanied by a broader, neighborhood-wide revitalization. Still, the neighborhood is low-income and far removed from the arts district – it was a challenge to gain support from traditional sources and most of the donations, numbering in the thousands, have come from people of lesser means. Many of today’s patrons still come from the neighborhood and walk to performances and local activities.

A Community Building Model: A Sum Worth More Than Its Parts
The sum of the St. Lawrence Restoration Project is larger than any of its three parts – it is more than just fixing an historic building, doing work in a neighborhood or building a theater space. The St. Lawrence Project creates a mutually dependent model by which these disparate social needs and interests support each other. The arts center gives the obsolete historic landmark a constructive and economically viable use while in turn the restored structure provides an aesthetically pleasing and affordable venue perfect for artistic expression. This model is designed to be long-term and self-perpetuating. The initial capital investment in historic preservation goes on to support the arts in providing not only an affordable artistic venue, but also an income-producing asset as theater revenues currently cover a large percentage of the St. Lawrence organizational expenses. This capital investment subsidizes the theater operation and makes it possible for the St. Lawrence to realistically offer the venue at affordable rates and to a diverse collection of artists and performers for well into the future.

Board of Directors
Joe Delaney, President
Glenn Morin, CPA, Treasurer
Nan Cumming
Rob Reusch, Esq.
Guy Gaudette, CPA
Bruce Hyman, AICP
Christopher Akerlind
Sarah Skillin Woodard
Frank Bishop, Esq.
Bill Umbel

Executive Director
Deirdre Nice

Theater Manager
Whitney McDorr

Development Director
Julia Kirby

Freelance Technical Director
Iain Odlin

Tour Guide and Chief Custodian
Robert "Bob" Lipps

Legal Councel

Verrill Dana LLP, Attorneys at Law