Victory Theatre Will Begin Demolition on Adjacent Funeral Home Prior to Rehabilitation

The Victory Theatre will begin demolition prior to its rehabilitation project, the Daily Hampshire Gazette reports.

An adjacent former funeral home at 134 Chestnut St will be demolished in order to build an annex with more dressing rooms, office space and a loading dock for the theatre.

"It's the first step in the actual construction project, and we couldn't do anything until that happened," Donald Sanders, MIFA's executive artistic director, said.

The demolition is expected to be finished by Christmas.

The total rehabilitation cost is estimated at $46 million, and Sanders said his organization has identified $31 million in funding for the project.

"The fact of the matter is, we still have some money to raise," Sanders said. "We're closing the gap."

Read more on the Daily Hampshire Gazette.

In 2009 MIFA acquired the Victory Theatre located at 81-89 Suffolk Street Holyoke, Massachusetts. The Victory, a 1,600-seat Broadway-style theatre opened in 1920 and has been derelict since 1979. MIFA is restoring the iconic theater and it will be returned to its role as a major live theatre for the City of Holyoke, its surrounding communities and the Connecticut River Valley from Long Island Sound to the Canadian border.