Historic theater awaits new life

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A crowd of people stand along Church Street outside the former Salem Theater, then known as the Salem Playhouse, in an undated photograph waiting to see the 1945 film ‘Diamond Horseshoe’ starring Betty Grable and Dick Haymes. -CONTRIBUTED BY THE NAUGATUCK HISTORICAL SOCIETY

NAUGATUCK — In its heyday, the former Salem Theater would draw crowds of people who would line up to see the newest movies on the silver screen. Now, the former theater at 173 Church St. sits vacant with a blank marquee and empty spaces where movie posters advertising what was showing used to hang.

The building sees no use except for on rare occasions such as earlier this month when it was opened for people to meet Santa Claus during the borough’s Light the Night Festival.

However, if a handful of Naugatuck natives have their way, the theater may soon come roaring back to life.

Ned Fitzpatrick, an attorney who owns the building along with Paul Fitzpatrick, Carlos Santos, Dave Morrissey and Andrew Morrissey as part of D&F Realty VII LLC, said the company is looking at redeveloping the approximately 7,800-square-foot theater for the arts, performing arts or a restaurant.

“The preference is to maintain the iconic nature of the Salem Theater and its historic presence in the downtown, while also permitting a slightly different function that is certainly an arts-related entity,” Fitzpatrick said.

The group has had some interest from people who would like to bring back the theater, Fitzpatrick said. But nothing has come to fruition as of yet.

The 923-seat theater was first opened in the mid-1940s and was operated by the Pasho family for 34 years.

Naugatuck Historical Society President Ken Hanks said the theater fit with the rest of Church Street.

“I think it is typical of the small town movie theaters in the day and age. It is similar to the [Country Cinema Theater] in Watertown. It was a family-owned theater rather than being a chain. The businesses along Church Street were all family owned at that time and theater fit in there,” Hanks said.

The former Salem Theater in Naugatuck is barely used today. The group that owns it is looking to revive it for the arts, performing arts or a restaurant. –LUKE MARSHALL

The theater was sold for $250,000 and turned into a roller rink in 1980. It was soon followed by a nightclub for 12- to 18-year-olds, which took advantage of the big screen. That venue, which opened in September 1982, included video games and Big Band Nights on Monday evenings.

But there were problems from the start, with at least six youth arrested opening night when several hundred would-be dancers were left outside because the venue reached its 1,000 person capacity. The venue was plagued by fist fights and vandalism, according to reports in the Republican-American.

By 1988, the dance hall closed and area youth petitioned to reopen a roller rink. At that point, it needed an estimated $75,000 worth of renovations. Heritage Bank of Watertown foreclosed on the property in 1992, and it was briefly a nightclub again for three months in 1993.

In 1994, the Rock Church of Naugatuck bought the building for $190,000. It was soon turned over to Kingdom Life Christian Church, which held services there until around 2006.

In 2007, the building, with the adjoining storefronts, was back on the market with an initial asking price of $5 million.

D&F Realty purchased the building in 2009 for $375,000.

Since the group has owned the building, it has had offers that the partners didn’t feel met the needs of the borough and the intent to bring the building back to its original use, Fitzpatrick said. These offers included industrial use, storage space and churches, he said.

Three girls look through the doors of the Salem Theater on Church Street in Naugatuck in April of 1980. The theater changed owners the prior week and was renovated into a roller skating rink. The group that owns the theater today is looking to revive it for the arts, performing arts or a restaurant. –REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN ARCHIVE

“We just don’t think those proposals are appropriate for our vision of the downtown,” Fitzpatrick said.

Hanks echoed Fitzpatrick’s sentiment, saying a theater would help draw people downtown.

“We would love to see people back downtown, not only for movies but art shows and events,” Hanks said.

Fitzpatrick the group is determined to maintain the historic nature of the theater.

“All the owners were born in Naugatuck and have significant interest in the town,” Fitzpatrick said. “There is interest in ensuring that piece of Naugatuck history is sustained for many years to come.”

With the recent opening of The Station Restaurant at the former train station on Water Street and construction poised to begin on Parcel C downtown, the borough’s downtown is set for a revival, said Fitzpatrick, who is also the borough attorney.

“We think we will be seeing some fruit coming from all that interest in Naugatuck’s downtown. We are certainly optimistic about the future,” Fitzpatrick said.

The Republican-American contributed to this article.

 

1 COMMENT

  1. when they coverted the theatre in 1980’s to roller skating they built the wood floor over the the original seats in theatre so restoration back to a theatre could happen if true someone should pull a piece of floor and see whats under it. seats??????? if not rotted n eatten away by time thst be priceless an it can qualify for historic restoration