Cheney Hall
History[edit]
Cheney Hall is an elegant Victorian structure designed by Hammat Billings of Boston in 1866 for Cheney Brothers Company, renowned silk industrialists.[1] [2] The hall was built as a theatre and cultural community facility for Manchester. Dedicated in 1867 by Horace Greeley, editor of the New York Times, Cheney Hall served as a facility for local theatrical events and gala parties and balls as well as religious services and concerts. Theatrical touring companies played at the Hall and there were lectures by prominent speakers of the day, including Presidents Grover Cleveland and William H. Taft, Susan B. Anthony, Henry Ward Beecher and Phillips Brooks (the composer of O Little Town of Bethlehem). For over six decades Cheney Hall served as a library, lecture and concert hall, theatre, armory (during the Spanish American War), banquet hall, hospital (during the 1918 flu pandemic), school, church and tea room. [3]
Beginning in 1923 the Cheney Brothers Company utilized the building as a fabric salesroom for the textiles made in their neighboring mills. In 1960 the building was purchased by the JP Stevens Company and was sublet to Pilgrim Mills as a fabric salesroom until 1976, when the Hall closed its doors.
Cheney Hall was included in the Cheney Brothers Historic District which was designated a National Historic Landmark by the U.S. Department of the Interior in 1978.[4]
Architecture[edit]
The architecture is that of the French Second Empire Style with medieval and renaissance characteristics.[5]Architectural features include a Mansard roof, segmented and full circle windows, brick and brownstone arches, intricate corbelled cornices, carved oak and chestnut trim in arabesque patterns. Prominent exterior features include one rear center and two front corner hip-roofed towers, six steep gabled dormers on the mansard, round-arched first-story windows, and a partially enclosed full-length entrance portico with recessed double doors.[6]
An 1866 E. & G.G. Hook tracker organ is built into the rear stage wall.[7] The organ was electrified in 1918 and is one of only about twenty Hook Company organs still known to exist.[8]
Renovation[edit]
In 1991 a ten-year award-winning restoration was completed at a cost of $2.6 million. During the restoration, great care was given to retain architectural details while, at the same time, creating an air conditioned, flexible, modern facility. In 1982 work began to restore the building, with exterior renovations completed in 1984 at a cost of $500,000. In 1985 the basement was excavated and electrical and gas service was provided to the building. By 1991 restoration work was nearly complete, with a rebuilt stage; a redesigned basement including lavatories and a kitchen; restored ceiling lights, shutters, and window fans. The EG&G Hook tracker organ was removed from the rear stage wall to prevent further damage during restoration. The organ remained in storage at the Andover Organ Company in Metheun, MA, until funds could be raised for its renovation and re-installation in the mid-1990s.
Lengthy negotiations were necessary to resolve handicapped access to the building. Seven plans were presented before one was found that was acceptable to the State Historical Commission, the State Building Inspector, and the Advocacy for the Handicapped. This plan required the building of an addition to accommodate a lift from the main floor of the Hall to the level of the stage, as well as the installation of a lift from the main floor down to the basement level.
Current Use[edit]
In 1981, it was donated to the Town of Manchester and subsequently leased by the Cheney Hall Foundation, a town agency, to The Little Theatre of Manchester, Inc. (LTM).[9]Cheney Hall is now LTM’s theatrical residence and the Little Theatre manages the Hall as a facility for other cultural, business, civic and private functions as well as producing plays and musicals in the Hall.[10]
References[edit]
- ↑ "Hammatt Billings, Artist & Architect".
- ↑ "Preservation and Development Plan for the Cheney Brothers National Historic Landmark". Missing or empty
|url=(help) - ↑ "Manchester Historical Society".
- ↑ "Manchester Historical Society". manchesterhistory.org/MHS3_Cheney_Bros.html. Missing or empty
|url=(help);|access-date=requires|url=(help) - ↑ Blish, Fred (October 23, 2010). What We Did For Love. BookLocker.com, Inc. p. 101. ISBN 978-1609104702. Search this book on
- ↑ "National Register of Historic Places".
- ↑ "The OHS Pipe Organ Database". database.organsociety.org. Retrieved 30 June 2017.
- ↑ 75-Year-Old Spencer Organ Blower Uncovered During Restoration of Historic Theatre Building. Windsor, CT: The Spencer Turbine Company. 2000. p. 1. Search this book on
- ↑ "Town of Manchester". Cheney Hall Foundation. Retrieved 30 June 2017.
- ↑ Martin, Julie (29 June 2000). "At 'Dedication Sunday,' thanks are doled out for the restoration of Cheney Hall". The Journal Enquirer.
http://www.manchesterhistory.org/MHS3_Cheney_Hall.html
http://www.courant.com/community/manchester/hc-manchester-cheney-hall-0211-20160210-story.html
https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/ce54552a-2feb-469c-816d-b0034aeceea8/?branding=NRHP
External links[edit]
Cheney Hall Review[edit]
Cheney Hall. Request for review again please.[edit]
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