Your Life

Saturday, Oct. 31, 2009

Ceremony Friday for new Bay Theater construction

Renovation is about to start on the “This Property is Condemned” yellow house that Bay St. Louis Little Theater bought almost two years ago to replace its Boardman Avenue playhouse that Katrina destroyed.

The theater’s board of directors extends invitations to the community to join the ground breaking ceremony, complete with dignitaries and speeches, at 5 p.m. Friday, Nov. 6, at the building at 398 Blaize Avenue.

Afterwards, patrons will caravan to the Waveland Civic Center for refreshments and the opening night of BSLLT’s production of “A Few Good Men,” to run Nov. 6-14. (The play is spotlighted elsewhere in this section.)

The yellow building is famous for its role as the Starr Boardinghouse in the 1966 Depression era movie, “This Property is Condemned,” which was filmed in Bay St. Louis and starred Natalie Wood and Robert Redford.

Construction excitement kicked in about two weeks ago when board president Cheryl Grace was notified the long-anticipated building permit had been issued, which allows work to start. Already in place was a contract for completion nine months from the start date.

Local architect John Anderson, a BSLLT board member, is the architect for the new theater.

When finished, the historic renovation of the three story, 5,000 square-foot building will come to $680,000, Anderson said. Most of it is being paid by the Mississippi Department of Archives and History. The purchase was with grant money from the Mississippi Arts Commission.

The structure was built in 1929 by John Scafidi, who used the first floor as a grocery store and the upstairs as living quarters for his family of 11 children. He handmade the curved concrete block stones for its exterior.

“The way we are getting new ones to replace 00 or so that are broken or cracked,” Anderson said, “is that St. Stanislaus used the same block and is making a mold. They will loan us the mold.

“Clearly, there’s a lot of rot,” he said. “We’re replacing approximately 30 years of neglect. By the time we’re finished, we’re gong to have a brand new building with relics of the original.”

“The building was slated to be torn down just a few days after we purchased it,” Grace said.

Soon after the purchase in Jan. 2008, community volunteers gutted the building, preserving as much wood as they could for use in the renovation.

The finished theater will seat approximately 70 people and will retain all possible of its original support columns.

“It’ll be like Wrigley Field,” Anderson said. “You’ll have to look around columns to see the stage.