Is Stoneham Theatre's vacancy finally ending?
Published on April 14th, 1999
STONEHAM, MA - The Town of Stoneham is distinguished by several recognizable landmarks. To the north, Redstone Shopping Plaza has become a hub of activity in recent decades for those in search of food, pharmaceuticals and clothing. To the south, Spot Pond welcomes visitors with its colorful sunrises and picturesque sunsets. In between, lying in the heart of Stoneham Square, is the Stoneham Theatre.
This historical remnant of the beginnings of American theater has stood vacant for over 20 years, adding to the plight of aging structures and unkempt storefronts in the downtown area.
Revitalization is ongoing in the heart of Stoneham, however, and one local family is making some strong moves to put a shine on the old marquis and reopen Stoneham Theatre for future generations.
"The goal is to try to bring it back to a theater," said Weylin Symes. "It was kind of an opportunity that arose that looked pretty good."
Yes, you heard right. Symes Associates, a company which was founded by the Stoneham-rooted Symes family, is currently in negotiations to purchase the downtown property and plans on restoring it to its original intent and glory.
"We're going to bring it back as much as we can. It's in pretty bad shape right now," Weylin Symes told the Independent. "Our hunch is that it won't come back to look just like it did in 1917, but we want it to be close."
The theater, which opened to the public on November 2, 1917, thrived through the better part of the century. Generations of residents profited from the nearby entertainment and marveled at Oscar-winning pictures which were projected on the movie house's lone screen.
By the 1970's, however, the theater had lost its luster. Movie houses boasting multiple viewing rooms and larger-than-life screens were popping up throughout the country and drawing patrons away from the smaller, more cozy confines of the Stoneham Theatre.
As a result, the owner of the downtown theater turned to pornographic films in order to pay the rent. It was of little use in the end, though, as a lack of attendance and outspoken opposition of such films ultimately caught up with the icon, forcing its closure.
Under the ownership of Simon Zaltman, many rumors floated about the town focusing on the future of Stoneham Theatre. In recent years, a proposal was made to raze the existing structure and replace it with a downtown parking lot. This idea as well as several others in preceding years soon fizzled, however.
After Zaltman's death at the age of 92 in December of 1998, some progress was made when the Zaltman family decided to actively pursue a new buyer. With the aid of Stoneham resident Frank Vallarelli and his firm, The Emerald Realty Group, interest in the long defunct theater was piqued. The price of the building located at 395 Main Street, which contains a theater, three businesses and four one bedroom apartments, was advertised at $375,000.
"There was a lot of interest initially," Vallarelli said. "Within the first week or two, I probably got 30 to 40 calls from people who wanted to come in and take a look at it."
According to Vallarelli, Emerald Realty soon began to focus on the Symes family because of their long-standing area business and commitment to the community.
"My hopes were to find a working theater group who would turn it back into a theater," he stated. "I didn't realize that this group would be from Stoneham, but that's exactly what happened.
"It's certainly a benefit to the community that we have an established client who will have the community's best interests in mind."
"It's a strange coincidence," Weylin Symes said of his return to his native town. "I've known about the theater since I was born, but I had never been inside it. It's kind of exciting to be able to come back to town and buy it."
Symes, who had studied theater in college and has written, directed and performed in productions throughout New England, said that the theater should again serve as a movie house and, in addition, as a home for a local production company. He also hopes to use the site as a place where the SHS Drama Club could gain some experience on the stage.
"We'll try to get as much in there as possible. It's a very big theater and we're just in the initial stages of getting in there and finding out what we can do with it," he said.
If all goes as planned, Vallarelli and Symes speculated, the sale should be finalized by mid-May. Symes said that work would then begin on rehabbing the theater's interior. He said that he hopes for a grand reopening in the spring of 2000. Due to the ongoing negotiation process, the specifics of the purchase agreement were not revealed.
"We hope that this will be a place where you could go and enjoy yourself," Symes explained.
Vallarelli expressed similar hopes, saying, "I'm hoping that once the theater opens, we'll see an increase in business, an increase in interest and an increase in commerce in the downtown area. I'm excited that there's going to be some revitalization and culture here in Stoneham."
Subscribe and get Home Delivery of The Independent
Save 36% off the newstand price — that's like 18 FREE issues!