HOLYOKE — Stepping into the shadowy lobby of the historic Victory Theatre on Tuesday, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Ben Downing looked at the stunning, century-old theater and saw something beyond just a space for the arts.
Investment in the arts, Downing said, is a key to revitalizing Main Streets and local economies, bringing in money from tourism and other economic opportunities for surrounding businesses. But for so-called “gateway cities” like Holyoke — midsize urban centers where the flight of manufacturing jobs has created deep wounds — there is an added importance, he said.
“We’re focused on communities that have too often been an afterthought at the State House,” said Downing, who is originally from the gateway city of Pittsfield. Projects like the restoration of the Victory Theatre, he said, bring a sense of pride to a city when it sees it can do big things. “And we deserve those big things.”
The Victory Theatre has become an essential stop, it seems, for politicians running for office in Holyoke and beyond. Don Sanders, the theater’s executive artistic director with an endless exuberance about restoring and preserving the Art Deco building, said that nearly all of the city’s mayoral candidates have stopped by for a tour. And on Monday, Downing was the latest to make the pilgrimage.
Linda Matys O’Connell, who handles government and community relations for theater owner the Massachusetts International Festival of the Arts (MIFA), said the theater’s supporters have felt emboldened by coronavirus recovery efforts and their focus on transformative projects with lasting economic impact. The Victory Theatre and arts infrastructure have that transformative economic and social impact, she said.
“We are making that case with all of our legislators, and we are hoping to make that case with the gubernatorial candidates,” she said.
Opened in 1920 and named after the outcome of World War I, the Victory Theatre was purchased by MIFA in 2009, three decades after it had last closed its doors.
Despite the dilapidated interior, the building’s structure is sturdy. A local group raised money in the mid-1980s that was used in part to seal the 1,600-seat building.
Now, MIFA is focused on raising money to make its $51 million restoration project a reality. MIFA says it has identified $32 million in funding thus far, including: $13 million in state bond funds, which O’Connell said have been authorized but not yet included in the state’s capital plan; $5.3 million in state historic tax credits; and $4.6 million in federal historic tax credits.
Downing, a 39-year-old former state senator, has made communities like Holyoke, Pittsfield and others the focus of his early campaign for governor in 2022.
“Those communities got knocked down,” he said.
Investing in arts brings many positive economic impacts, he added, but also a sense of community and pride.
“That psychology of a community is as important as any economic statistic,” he said.
If elected, Downing said he would steer state economic development incentives away from the state’s “overheated” economies that he said too often receive them. Instead, he said he would direct those incentives to cities like Holyoke, and projects like the Victory Theatre.
Downing said that no one project can be a “home run,” using baseball metaphors to make his point.
“Focus on the singles and doubles,” he said to describe his own approach.
MIFA is still in the process of raising money for the restoration, though some work has recently been completed. Last year, the organization paid for the demolition of a nearby building on Chestnut Street. In its place an annex will eventually be built, housing more dressing rooms, office space and a loading dock.
Hearing Downing describe the economic boon that comes from investing in the arts, Sanders’ eyes opened wide as he swung a flashlight around the theater, showing off everything from the classic seats to the silk-covered walls that are being recreated for the project.
“Hear, hear!” he told Downing.
Dusty Christensen can be reached at dchristensen@gazettenet.com.