Governor Joins Town Hall Theater Ground Breaking Ceremony

By Mike Cameron

photo by Mike Cameron Above LtoR are Ronald D. Liebowitz President of Middlebury College, Mac McLaughlin President of Bread Loaf Corporation, Barbara Maloney THT Secretary, Governor Jim Douglas, Douglas Anderson THT Executive Director, Dutton Smitter Jr. Project Manager, Bread Loaf Corporation, Ashar Nelson Architect, and Walter Deverill THT Treasurer.

 The final phase for Middlebury's Town Hall Theater officially began on Wednesday, October 31st 2007.  With an official ground-breaking ceremony and a Champaign toast,supporters of the project joined Vermont Governor Jim Douglas and THT Executives Director Douglas Anderson at the site of the new addition on the west side of the building in the Alleyway near Steve's Park Diner.  After the “Golden Shovel Ceremony” patrons were given a tour of the beautifully restored building which has become a showcase landmark in the heart of the downtown area.

   In his opening remarks Director Anderson thanked key community supporters of the project with special thanks to Ken Perrine and the National Bank of Middlebury.  Maynard “Mac” McLaughlin the president of Bread Loaf Corporation was also recognized for his companies work on the project.  Mc Laughlin spoke briefly and emphasized the importance of the project to the community and the area.

   In his concluding comments Anderson mentioned that “We've been working on this building since 2000.  It's thrilling to be in the home stretch.  THT still needs to raise over $100,000 to finish the $5 million campaign.  
The decision was made to start now and take advantage of competitive winter rates for sub-contractors,” he said.

   The building when fully completed will be a state-of-the-art facility for performances, classes and receptions.”

   The ceremony was delayed a week because of a train derailment near the construction site the previous week.