Project Updates
Victory Theatre Image on Downtown Holyoke Traffic Light Utility Box
We are excited to have the Victory Theatre's image chosen for the Summer Evening Youth Program street art murals by Enlace de Familias and Nueva Esperanza, Inc.! Come check out artist Jeff Marcil's (Allest Arts) 1930s inspired #VictoryTheatre mural and the progress of the youth painters on Cabot and Main in downtown #Holyoke.
Special thanks to Betty Medina Lichtenstein (Enlace de Familias) and Chloe Soto (Nueva Esperanza)!
Congressman Richard Neal announced more than $20 million in the Administration's shuttered venues operation grant.
JUL 26, 2021 - SPRINGFIELD, MA (WGGB/WSHM) -- Congressman Richard Neal announced more than $20 million in area funding from the Small Business Administration's shuttered venues operation grant. - Western Mass News
Across Massachusetts, there have been 244 grants awarded.
Massachusetts International Festival of the Arts, Holyoke - $491,035
Victory Tour with Mayoral candidates
‘We want to put it back the way it was’: Holyoke’s Victory Theater takes next step as funeral home demolition makes way for annex
By Dennis Hohenberger | Special to The Republican
HOLYOKE — The razing of a former funeral home has paved the way for a proposed three-story, 14,500-square-foot annex to the Victory Theater, officials for the arts organization that owns the theater said Wednesday.
Phase 1 of the Victory Theatre restoration process has begun
Demo of 134 Chestnut St. Has Begun! MIFA is excited to announce Curran Construction began Phase 1 of the much anticipated Victory Theatre restoration process.
The 134 Chestnut St. property on the north side of the Victory will be replaced with a new 14,500sq ft. connecting Annex designed by DBVW Architects. The Annex will house essential service, facilities management, technical, dressing room, office, and loading dock space unable to be accommodated in the theater's historic footprint, but needed to make the Victory a state-of-the-art 21st-century theater.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MIFA Victory Theatre Restoration plans move forward with demolition of 134 Chestnut St. property. HOLYOKE, MA – March 24, 2021 — MIFA Victory Theatre and Curran Construction begin demolition of the buildings at 134 Chestnut St., Holyoke MA as Phase 1 of the much-anticipated Victory Restoration begins. MIFA Victory Theatre purchased the 134 Chestnut St. property directly adjacent to the theater’s north side in 2019 to replace it with a completely new 14,500 sq ft building, the Victory Theatre Annex. The Annex designed by DBVW Architects will house essential service, facilities management, technical, dressing room, office, and loading dock space unable to be accommodated in the theater’s historic footprint and needed to make the Victory a state of the art 21st-century theater.
“Demolition of 134 is a critical moment in the Victory’s progress. By taking down 134 Chestnut St. we open the possibilities to allow larger theatre companies to come to Holyoke. Everything great about our city will be reflected in the wonderfully restored Victory Theatre. We’ve even saved some beautiful doors from 134 and a fireplace mantel to be installed in the D’Amour Room of the Victory,” said Don Sanders, Executive Artistic Director.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION: Contact Emily at 413-540-0200 or info@mifafestival.org.
2020 Doris Duke Preservation Awards
Congratulations to MIFA’s Victory Theatre architects DBVW Architects, on their two projects (International Tennis Hall of Fame and BankNewport) receiving the 2020 Doris Duke Preservation Award! DBVW’s outstanding historic preservation work is one of the many reasons we have chosen them to restore the iconic Victory Theatre.
‘When it was over, I didn’t want to leave my seat’: 28 celebs share their first movie theater memories,
Actress and Holyoke native Ann Dowd remembers watching “Mary Poppins” at the Victory Theatre in Holyoke, Mass. –Globe Archives
by Tim Nasson, October 9, 2020, Boston.com
“The first movie that I can remember seeing [in a movie theater] was ‘Mary Poppins’ [1964]. When it was over, I didn’t want to leave my seat, I wanted it to start again. There was a little girl crying and her father was holding her because she was so sad that Mary Poppins left at the end. The name of the theater was the Victory Theater in Holyoke, Mass.” — Ann Dowd, Emmy winner, Best Supporting Actress, “The Handmaid’s Tale,” upcoming “Rebecca” remake; born and raised in Holyoke”