The Hill Arts, 76 Congress Street, Formerly the St. Lawrence Congrgational Church..

The Hill Arts has announced that it will begin construction of its 400-seat theater this October.  The new building will be a mid-sized auditorium on the footprint of the former historic Sanctuary of the St. Lawrence Congregational Church – built in 1897.

The new space will include opportunities for an arts incubator, enhanced programming and infrastructure to support the neighboring East End Community School and an intent to create green and parking congestion reduction programs through an established transit partnership with Greater Portland Metro.   A small but persistent  group of neighbors led by Vana and Ralph Carmona tried every which way to derail the theater. The forner North Street residents eventualy gave up because they believed the Sanctuary would never be built.  Fortunately they were unsuccessful.  As a result,  the Center will provide a dynamic and necessary addition to Portland’s creative infrastructure.

Archetype Architects of Portland, renowned for their expertise in designing buildings in historic districts, designed the new Hill Arts Perforance Center, with due respect for the existing Parish Hall and the unique eclectic Munjoy Hill neighborhood.  Zachau Constructions secured the bid for the project in 2024.  New Height Group is managing the project.

At one time, the St. Lawrence was the focus of the community.  It  hosted scout troops, public suppers, a singing group and much more.  But with declining attendance and lacking funds to fix serious deterioration of the building, it was forced to close its doors in 1986.  A group led by Deidre Nice and Bill Milliken saved the structure from possible development or the wrecking ball.  In 1993, Nice purchased the empty building with the hope of saving it from the wrecking ball.  In 2008, because of more servere deterioration, the non-profit  had to raze the Sanctuary.  Today’s fenced in area is where the Sancutary was located – a space known for its  outstanding acoustics.  The razing process took a few days to complete and some of the larger pieces of the Sanctuary are buried in that otherwise empty space.  It has always been the hope of this blogger those boulders buried there would be used in the reconstruction of the new theater on site.  The original architect of the building was the same New York City architect that designed the Norumbega Castle, in Camden.  From the start, church members were aware of small leaks in the ceiling, but chose to ignore them, according to church records.

“This 400-seat theater will be a gem for Portland.  We’re well on our way to reaching our goal and we’re excited to work with philanthropic partners to finish this campaign and bring this amazing vision to reality,” said Jamie Isaacsom.  “The  Hill Arts Capital Campaign Chair and Board Member.

For more background information on this many year project, please visit posts herein dated June 7, 2023, December 10, 2012 and December 5, 2012.