Historic theater reopens in downtown Glens Falls
GLENS FALLS, N.Y. » More than 100 people turned out recently for the grand reopening of an historic downtown Glens Falls theater, following its $3 million renovation.
The newly restored 220-seat Park Theater, at 14 Park St., will host live performances and includes flexible event space plus Doc’s Restaurant, named after Dr. Harold Kirkpatrick, the theater’s former owner.
The site is just off Glen Street, near Glens Falls Hospital.
Owner Elizabeth Miller spearheaded the project, which began in 2015.
“I hope this building is everything you want it to be and that it helps the community,” she said during a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
People flocked inside, greeted by a magnificent chandelier set against a blue domed ceiling, in the theater lobby.
Other features include high-polished hardwood floors in the event space, state-of-the-art audio and lighting systems, modern acoustics, new staging and sapphire blue velvet curtains.
Doc’s Restaurant is downstairs, accessibly by a spiral staircase or a circular glass elevator, for handicapped patrons.
The Park Theater originally opened in December 1911 as the first movie theater in Glens Falls, featuring silent films and vaudeville shows. It closed in 1935 and was converted to a newspaper printing plant.
Kirkpatrick purchased the property in 1984 and spent more than 20 years working to restore it to back to a theater. It reopened in 2006 and began showing movies in 2010, but closed again in 2014. Miller stepped in the next year. “I just noticed a building that needed a little TLC to make it the best for our community,” she said.
Empire State Development, the state’s economic development agency, contributed $600,000 to the project, upon the recommendation of the Capital Region Economic Development Council.
“The newly renovated Park Theater is a great example of the way we’re supporting community-driven projects and leveraging private investment and publicly available funding to revitalize downtowns all around the state,” said Howard Zemsky, Empire State Development president, CEO and commissioner.