New Hope for New London Landmark
Posted on Friday, September 23 @ 11:58:45 EDT
Topic: Current Events
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For years, The Empire Picture House in New London's Claireau Quarter has lain abandoned and derelict.
Now it seems that there is new hope for this beautiful old building as
it is bought by a local man with dreams of converting it into a theater
for plays and musicals.
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Resting between Encre Street and
The London road in New London's Claireau Quarter, is the depressing sight
of the abandoned Empire Picture House. Built at the height of the days of
silent movies, The Empire was laid out more like a theater than a picture
house, and now it seems that someone in New London is finally going to put
this grand old building to use once more.
Despite its grand design and breathtaking layout, the Empire never managed
to draw much of a crowd even during the early days, and during the revival
of the cinema in the late 70’s and early 80’s when larger
corporations moved in on it’s market, The Empire finally went out
of business and has lain abandoned ever since.
Now, however, local eccentric and owner of Euterpe’s Coffee House,
Ambrose Constantine, has bought the building and is planning to convert
it into a theater where plays, musicals and dance will be put on, as well
as other, more unusual events. |
The Empire Theater in New London's
Claireau Quarter |
| Recently, Mr Constantine showed
us around his most recent purchase, highlighting the terrible condition
into which The Empire has fallen as a result of years of neglect. Much
of the roof has given way, the building is full of dust and pigeons, and
the walls are peeling and riddled with damp. Standing in the darkness
beneath the gallery, it’s impossible to see how anyone could take
on the gargantuan task of painstakingly restoring and adapting it for
modern use.
However, Mr Constantine seems optimistic about the fate of the building:
“The building is in a terrible state, I’m not denying that,”
he told us in a statement a little later as he is tragically unable to
speak. “But I don’t believe that it’s beyond the point
of no return. The Empire is still standing, everything else is just details.”
On being asked about the possible costs of such a project and whether
he could possibly expect to recover even a fraction of the costs through
ticket sales, Mr Constantine replied:
“Our first priority is to preserve what little is left of the building’s
original features, and make sure no further damage is done. After that,
we will make sure the building is structurally sound, and make repairs.
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The upper levels
of The Empire, showing the terrible damage years of neglect have inflicted.
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"My aim in this is not to
finish the building to an extravagant standard. So long as we preserve
what we can, the place can be made to look authentic with a little plasterboard
and stage-paint. After all, this is a theater, or it will be. If you’re
not prepared to suspend your disbelief just a little, then you probably
won’t be coming here."
Mr Constantine has recruited architect Tori Saunders to help him repair,
refurbish and redesign The Empire. Mr Saunders is a respected architect,
well known for his work on sympathetically adapting historical buildings
for modern usage.
The repairs are expected to take around three months, and it will most
probably be a further three months before The Empire once again opens
its doors to the citizens of New London. However, the city is pitifully
deprived of all but the most basic of functioning theaters, so perhaps
it will be worth the wait to see a little culture return to New London,
even if it has been repaired with plasterboard and stage-paint. |
The darkness of the lower levels
of the theater |
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