The New Hampshire Charitable Foundation and Putnam Foundation have awarded The Park Theatre a $20,000 grant to support construction drawings for the renovation of the 1922 historic Theatre in downtown Jaffrey. States Board President Caroline Hollister, “We are very grateful to both the Putnam Foundation and the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation for their continuing support of this endeavor. As usual, their support has arrived at just the right time.” Working with its building advisors, the Board of Trustees has streamlined the initial design in order to start construction as soon as possible, and for the least cost. Trustees submit the project site plan to Jaffrey’s Planning Board in April. Once approved, building designs can proceed.
The mission of New Hampshire Charitable Foundation is to improve the quality of life throughout New Hampshire by encouraging donor partnerships to accomplish charitable purposes of all kinds with funds contributed by individuals, organizations and corporations. The Foundation has partnered with Putnam Foundation and the Ruth and James Ewing Fund to support a series of initiatives undertaken by The Park Theatre to restore and reopen the 90 year old Theatre in downtown Jaffrey. “These awards,“ adds Hollister, “make it possible for us to continue to simultaneously provide programs, continue to operate, and to conduct the due diligence necessary for restoration.” 2012 marks The Park Theatre’s sixth season of arts and entertainment.
The Theatre has shown 49 classic films and presented dozens of artistic and cultural programs in the last five years, and attracted over 7,000 patrons into downtown Jaffrey for its programs. The 2012 Star-Studded Season of films begins at 7PM July 12, 2012 with Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. Films are shown each week during July and August at the Jaffrey Woman’s Club. The showings are free and open to the public, with ample seating in air-conditioned comfort.
About The Park Theatre:
The Park Theatre’s Summer Movie Nights and Saturdays at the Cinema include free family films each summer and fall. All movies are open to the public, and shown at the Jaffrey Woman’s Club, 33 Main Street, Jaffrey. Refreshments, including The Park Theatre candy bars and popcorn, are available for purchase on-site. Cinema patrons can save 50 candy bar movie labels to use toward free admission to the event of their choice when The Park Theatre opens. Over the past five years, The Park Theatre has attracted more than 7,000 patrons into downtown Jaffrey for art, culture, and entertainment programs. The Park Theatre's 2012 Season is the result of the Theatre's collaboration with the Jaffrey Woman's Club, and numerous performing artists throughout the region who intend to mount their productions in the reopened Park Theatre. One of those Performing Partners, Branch River Theatre, invites you to “help solve a murder!” with an exquisitely catered murder mystery dinner theatre, Murder in the Napa Valley, or Crime in the Vines at the Knights of Columbus, 372 Marlborough Street, Keene, on March 23, 2012 at 6:30PM. All tickets are $25, and available by calling (603) 283-7538, or emailing tickets@branchrivertheatre.com. Reservations are strongly recommended, as March 24th is sold out.
The Park Theatre is a 90 year-old building in downtown Jaffrey, NH that the community is working to restore and reopen. The Capital Campaign for the project successfully completed the $500,000 tax credit campaign in 2011, raising more than $1,200,000 for restoration to date. Plans for the initial construction of the Theatre have been streamlined to get the doors open for the least cost and within the shortest time possible. The Park Theatre will offer year-round programming—movies, plays and concerts by local artists, schools and touring companies—in a 400-seat, state-of-the-art, superbly acoustic facility, and be a home to showcase the Monadnock region’s performing artists. It will serve as the centerpiece of the revitalized downtown Jaffrey and provide the five schools in downtown Jaffrey—currently without performing spaces—their 1,200 students, and other schools throughout the region, with performing space for theatre, music and other events. The Theatre will also offer opportunities for cultural events to enhance the school curriculum and enrich the community life of the towns, and bring over $400,000 in economic benefits and 26,000 patrons into downtown Jaffrey annually.
Additionally, the Theatre will conduct ParkArts, an after school, vacation and post-graduate educational program for students of all ages to learn myriad theatrical arts. It will bring accessible and affordable arts and entertainment, culture and education to downtown Jaffrey and the Monadnock region’s year-round residents and visitors, as well as offer its back-office services to performing artists groups in the region and make its facilities—complete with full catering capability—available for rent to private and public entities, and community-wide events.
The Park Theatre participates in Arts Alive!, whose mission is to enhance quality of life by advancing arts and culture in the Monadnock region. For more information about Arts Alive!, visit the Arts Alive! website at www.monadnockartsalive.org. For additional information, contact The Park Theatre at (603) 532-7711; info@theparktheatre.org, or at P.O. Box 278, Jaffrey, NH 03452-0278.
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