Arts Center May Win Historic Designation

March 10, 2007
By MONICA POLANCO, Courant Staff Writer

NEW BRITAIN -- Trinity-On-Main is one step closer to being listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The Connecticut State Review Board, composed of 10 scholars, voted unanimously Thursday to send the cultural center's nomination for national historic status to the keeper of the national registry in Washington. The keeper's staff has 45 days to make a decision.

Mary Donohue, survey grants director for the Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism, was optimistic about the response from Washington, calling the center a "Cinderella story."

"In our opinion, there wouldn't be any reason why this won't be a very easy process," Donohue said. "It's such an outstanding building. It has a well-written nomination. The board received it extraordinarily well."

National Register status, which is primarily honorary, offers some protection against demolition. In Connecticut, attempts to demolish buildings on the register can be challenged in court, said James Sexton, a consultant who created Trinity-On-Main's historic status nomination.

National historic status would also give Trinity-On-Main a public relations boost, said Anne Pilla, the center's executive director.

"I think the community is really starting to be aware of us, of what we are, but I think this will be a little extra," Pilla said. "It may just pique people's interest."

The building, at 69 Main St., was formerly occupied by Trinity Methodist Episcopal Church and was built in the late 19th century. The church decided in 1999 to demolish the building because its dwindling congregation could no longer support it, but in 2000, a group to save the Richardsonian Romanesque building emerged.

"Very shortly after that, they convinced the pastor at the time not to demolish the building and to give them a chance to buy it," Pilla said.

Trinity-On-Main bought the building last March and was listed the same month on the state historic register.

The center, which recently hosted a rock concert and comedy night that drew 250 people, has begun an exterior renovation project that has been estimated at $2.5 million, a figure the center's board of directors plans to review.

"Once we finish all of the exterior renovation, then there's also what do we have to do to the inside to reuse the space into a true performing arts center," Pilla said. "It's a long-term project."