Our View: Monomoy Theatre Gaslighting

There was great sadness when the Monomoy Theatre closed in 2018, but that was tempered with optimism when the new owner of the downtown Chatham property, Chatham Productions, indicated a year-round performing arts center would be created at the location. But in what can only be seen as a monumental failure to read town sentiment, plans for the rest of the property faced defeat after defeat, and now the Newton-based owner says that the theater playhouse, neglected by it for the past six years, is too rundown and must be demolished.

 The historic business district commission turned down the request, and Chatham Production appealed to the select board, which will hold a hearing on the plan to tear the building down Tuesday, Dec. 16. The board should uphold the HBDC’s decision.

 In its five-page appeal letter, Chatham Productions appears to be engaged in gaslighting by dismissing the playhouse’s important role in the town’s cultural and economic history. Perhaps their definition of historic differs from ours. Maybe they’re just talking about the building’s architecture. Admittedly, the playhouse is no architectural gem; cobbled together over more than a century, it’s a bit of a dog’s breakfast, but that’s not unusual for Chatham or the Cape. The Chatham Squire is a hodgepodge as well and is certainly not an architectural beauty, but there’s no denying its charm and historic, cultural and economic importance to the town.

 Chatham Productions argues that not only is the building itself not historic, but what occurred there was not culturally significant to the town. This is nonsense and ignores its role as a toy factory in the early 20th century, a component of the town’s then-growing summer resort culture, as well as its rich theatrical history beginning in the 1930s. It is indisputable that the theater, especially in the more than 60 years it was run as a summer training program by Ohio University, was an important part of the town’s cultural life. Hundreds, maybe thousands of alumni went on to work on Broadway, in film and television; it is where Tony, Emmy and Grammy-award winning actress Julie Harris gave her final live performance. A number of alumni are right now contributing to Broadway shows. If that doesn’t equate to contributing to the cultural and economic history of the town, we don’t know what would.

 Chatham Productions also asserts that because the Monomoy Theatre only operated during the summer, they do not believe the playhouse held a significant role in the community. For decades, Chatham Bars Inn was only open seasonally. No one would argue that CBI has not played an important role in the cultural and economic life of the town.

 We could debunk other aspects of Chatham Production’s appeal letter, such as the assertion that the historical commission doesn’t have the authority to declare a building historically significant or that the commission was unsuccessful in obtaining a ruling from the Massachusetts Historical Commission that the building is eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. Both have been refuted numerous times. The owners have also not provided documentation requested by the HBDC backing up their claim that the state agency rejected a historic designation of the building.

 There’s no question that the playhouse is in deplorable condition, but that’s the fault of the owners, who neglected it for six years. Anything can be restored with sufficient investment, and Chatham Productions should restore the theater — even if it has to be stripped back to the bare boards — to its traditional appearance, despite it likely being converted to commercial space, as they have said they plan to do. Losing the building would significantly change the historic streetscape of that section of Main Street.

We urge the select board to resoundingly reject the appeal and let a court decide if the fate of Chatham’s built environment should be decided by townspeople or a developer from Newton that is clearly out of step with the local community.