Story
This 1921 Van Buren landmark along Main Street originated as the Star Theatre Building, replacing the Dreamland Theatre previously on site. The brick, two-story commercial building incorporated restrained details from the Renaissance Revival Style popular for theaters of the time, including brick corbelling in the form of raised panels and pilasters, and arched window and door openings. The original design of the building included a central theater lobby flanked by storefronts, large assembly hall upstairs, and a large auditorium space at the rear complete with stage, orchestra pit, balcony, and soaring ceiling.
In December 1924, the Star Theatre suffered a destructive fire that consumed the auditorium and roof while sparing the facade. It was redesigned and quickly rebuilt the next year. Soon after, Lillian Keegan assumed ownership of the building and renamed it the Gayety Theatre. Mrs. Keegan operated the theater for 36 years making countless improvements including upholstered seats, sound and projector upgrades, CinemaScope screen, and an Art Deco-inspired remodel of the auditorium, lobby, and first floor of the facade. The evolution of the building’s signage and entrance is most remarkable–beginning with an electrical blade sign in 1929, illuminated marquee circa 1931-33, and the later Art Moderne neon marquee with letterboard from 1937. Motions pictures were balanced with live performances on the stage. Between the architecture, lighting, seating, shows, and acoustics, The Gayety’s slogan, “Northern Maine’s Favorite Theatre,” stood true!
The Gayety Theatre building also hosted basketball games, dances, bingo, town and school board meetings, farmers’ meetings, judicial proceedings, and series of school graduations. Stories abound of couples who had their first date or met their future partner while attending an event. By 1930, the upstairs hall was known as the City Club, touting live band dancing and even a miniature golf course for five years! The commercial spaces on the first floor were host to popular businesses including Cyr’s Lunch (1921-1943) known for its homemade pie and cold beer and Richard’s Pharmacy (1923-1957) that featured a soda fountain.
Gilman Grandmaison took ownership of the Gayety Theatre in 1962, adding Gayety Theatre Dairy Freeze (1965-1969) and Gayety Arcade and Video (1982-1990) in the storefronts. Movies at the Gayety held strong even after the advent of television, but eventually had its last showing in 1983. One of Gilman’s sons, Dayton, who worked at the family businesses, opened a small restaurant in the front half of the building, which became a gathering place for locals and visitors alike. By the mid-1990s, Dayton had sold the building with iterations of his restaurant continuing.
Threat
After a series of subsequent owners and decades of deferred maintenance, the toll on the building was apparent. Enter Jason Grandmaison, the other son of Gilman, who in 2018 was able to build a relationship with the owner and get a key to the theater. Jason began tending to the buckets lining the attic that were collecting water. In 2021, Jason’s brother Dayton experienced his own call to action after someone had vandalized the façade. Dayton hired two local contractors to complete repairs and paint the storefront and windows on Main Street. The brothers knew the importance of the building to the community as well as to themselves, recalling the sound of the chains in the bottom of the draperies hitting the stage floor and being part of a first viewing with other audience members. Before they knew it, most of the carpentry and masonry had been repaired on the façade and people in town were taking notice. Through these efforts, the Grandmaisons have garnered the support of the Town Council and Town Manager.
Cosmetic repairs to the exterior were only the start of what was needed to arrest the building’s downward spiral. Jason completed a variety of patches and re-rigging of gutters systems to stop further water infiltration, but a full replacement is needed. Unfortunately, years of water resulted in buckling wood floors, saturated insulation, failing plaster, and a wet basement. After securing ownership of the building, the brothers have been slowly cleaning out debris, demolishing later interior divisions, and exposing original features like the tin ceilings, entryway arch, and decorative stenciling. The ultimate goal is to create a small 60-seat theater and reactivate the auditorium as a 140-seat performance/movie theater space, complemented by a refreshment stand and museum space in the left storefront and lobby space. The other storefront would be rehabbed and leased. New windows and doors would help restore the original openings on the façade that had been enclosed over the years.
How to Get Involved
The Grandmaisons hope to save, repair, and reopen a historic jewel to create a fun and wonderful gathering place for their local community and region. They see their efforts as part of a growing momentum in Van Buren to reinvest and works towards a vibrant Main Street.
They have filed the paperwork to establish the Friends of the Gayety Theatre, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization to preserve the Gayety Theatre Building. This would allow them to pursue grant funding and to accept tax deductible donations from individuals and businesses that would like to support the project.
Those interested in tracking the progress of the project and in supporting this monumental effort in Van Buren, can follow along on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/6346574898701203
