Something exciting is happening in Lawrence with the reconstruction of the St. Anne’s Churches, the well-known big church on the corner of Franklin St. and Haverhill St. as well as the smaller version on the Haverhill St. side. They are both part of the new renaissance for the entire neighborhood.
Richard Derosas and his brother are not new to this city. They have been working here renovating buildings, making this city better because of their love for beauty, history and tradition. They restored the Blakeley Building on Essex St. and built the new extension after part of it collapsed and made it a one of the best apartment buildings in the area. An important feature is how he preserved part of the building’s history as a tribute.
They also transformed the Sacred Heart Church property into beautiful apartments while keeping the historical areas protected and the Greater Lawrence Family Development Charter School on Haverhill St. along with the convent in the corner now serving as classroom space, library and offices for the school.
The beauty of St. Anne’s Church caught their attention many years ago and they purchased the property. The first church was built beginning in 1873 by the growing French-Canadian community. By 1900 the parish had outgrown the church and by 1905, the new church was completed. In the 1950s the first church was converted to a parish hall.
Community members in the region have a deep and strong attachment to the St. Anne’s Churches, as many fondly recall community activities and worship in the welcoming structures. The churches have been a part of the fabric of the community for generations, and neighbors and former parishioners, as well as regional visionaries, support the restoration and continued role as a community center.
The Lawrence Performance Center will be available year round for arts and cultural events, banquets, educational activities, entertainment, film, receptions, and tours. The Lawrence Performance Center, with a mystique all its own, may be used to present events by businesses, community groups, individuals, and nonprofit organizations. The experience of an intimate, inviting, and welcoming Lawrence Performance Center is served, in part, by the varied activities hosted and presented within the historic buildings.
Programming at Lawrence Performance Center is diverse and engaging, fun and professional, inclusive and innovative.
The eclectic blend of performing arts and cinema programming may include:
- Dance: professional touring companies, student recitals
- Music: battle of the bands, big band, blues, chamber, choral, classical, festivals, folk, hip hop, jazz, light opera, Augusta Symphony and, and contemporary for young audiences
- Theatre: Broadway musical, community, family, poetry slams, readers theatre, summer stock, touring companies
- Film: art, cartoons, classic, independent, matinees, silent, student, Massachusetts Film Festival, subscription series, themed series/speakers
- Arts Camps
- Comedy
- Community Gatherings
- Conferences
- Debates and Lectures
- Dining Opportunities: banquets, holiday, themed
- Educational Opportunities: classes, lessons, workshops
- Exhibitions and Visual Art Displays
- Magic
- Private Functions: award ceremonies, banquets, corporate meetings, fund raisers, galas. parties
- Student Performances and Productions
- Specialty Shows – Antiques, Auctions, Crafts, Cooking, Fashion
- Talent and Variety Shows, Open Mike amateur night
- Weddings and wedding receptions
- And more
Lane Glenn, president of Northern Essex Community College is delighted with this project because NECC has been looking for a venue like that for many years and Mayor Dan Rivera has shown interest and will support it, according to Ana Levy.
The Lawrence Performance Center mystique and the caliber of events will be the attraction that sets LPC events apart from other presentations in the region.
In addition to public presentations the Lawrence Performance Center will work with Merrimack Valley educators and students in grades K—12 to create a multidisciplinary performing arts and cinema series for the enhancement of existing classroom curricula.
Program Goals:
- To build long-term partnerships between Merrimack Valley educational centers and Lawrence Performance Center
- To work with regional educators to present quality performing arts and cinema events that meet the needs of students and educators
- To help educators ensure that the arts are a vital part of every child’s education
- To afford the students of the Merrimack Valley professional theatre and cinema experiences in a setting where history, language arts, mathematics, and science may come to life
- To provide students with an opportunity to attend live performing arts events, sharing these experiences with others
- To create enthusiasm and motivation for learning through positive theatre and cinema experiences and appropriate program presentations
- To foster the growth of creative thinking and creative abilities
- To promote the benefits of curiosity, discovery, and lifelong learning through lively and invigorating performing arts events and cinema experiences
The Lawrence Performance Center will continue to explore the desires and needs of the Merrimack Valley communities for the development of programming and educational opportunities.
The Lawrence Performance Center will be available on a rental basis to businesses, local arts groups, professional promoters, organizations, and individuals.
Suitable and qualified public venues are at a premium in the Merrimack Valley. Finding appropriate space to rehearse, perform and gather for meetings and conferences is a never-ending challenge. That downtown Lawrence lacks a large, air-conditioned meeting place with comfortable seating and presentation amenities cannot be overlooked. While some space does exist for some of these activities, none of the venues in the area can meet all of the needs arts groups, businesses, civic organizations, and promoters require. The restored Lawrence Performance Center will meet these needs in a professional fashion and provide additional services and opportunities as well.
The Lawrence area already hosts some of the top cultural heritage tourism attractions in the state with fairs and festivals, galleries, historic sites, museums, performing arts events, and an abundance of historic architecture in a vital downtown. As a result of these draws and continued efforts toward riverfront and downtown restoration, Lawrence will be connected to the greater regional cultural activities and appeal to visitors from beyond the immediate geographic area. Activities at the Lawrence Performance Center will complement these powerful events and in its own right bring new visitors to the area.
Lawrence is host to a wide range of ethnic festivals that celebrate the city’s diversity and rich heritage. Among them are the: Bread and Roses Festival, Festival of the Three Saints, Irish Heritage Month, Italian Heritage Month, Robert Frost Festival, Semana Hispana, and activities at Lawrence Heritage State Park. Events and attractions are promoted and profiled through the Merrimack Valley’s Chambers of Commerce, the State of Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism, The Massachusetts Department of Economic and Community Development, in local and regional newspapers papers, and through radio and television advertising.
The Lawrence Performance Center, with two dynamic facilities offering intimate and large-scale entertainment experiences, stylish decoration, and state-of-the-art cultural and hospitality amenities, will prove an unrivaled performance, cinematic, and reception venue. The outstanding features of the Lawrence Performance Center, coupled with its creative and unique programming, provide an experiential package for patrons not available anywhere in the region. Patrons of the Lawrence Performance Center, as at many historic venues across the country, will purchase tickets to an event as much to marvel at the inspired architecture and the Center’s mystique, as they will to be enlightened by the performance.
