The Franklin Opera House. (Credit: Daniel Sarch/Laconia Daily Sun)
The next act for the historic Franklin Opera House could see the building become more of a community center than ever before.
After needed upgrades had been delayed or ignored to the point that Fire Chief Michael Foss shut the facility down for fire code violations in 2023, plans are underway to reinvigorate and reinvest in the space.
“Fifty years of neglect is finally being addressed, and the result will be, I think, a better building for the entire community,” said Dan Darling, executive director of Franklin Opera House, Inc.
For the past two years, architects, consulting firms and the opera house’s board of directors worked to improve the space to meet safety requirements and make it an arts hub for Franklin for another century to come.
If all goes accoring to plan, the historic theater would reopen late next year, but some aspects of the budget still need to be ironed out.
Organizations affiliated with the reopening plan — including nonprofit Franklin Opera House, Inc., ARCove Architects and other consultants — laid out a budget, floor plan and vision for the opera house last month with an anticipated opening date of November 2026.
The opera house, which opened in 1893 in Soldiers Memorial Hall, was closed in 1965 to allow for more city service space. It opened again near the turn of the century and hosted limited performances until its second recent closure.
The city council passed a $6.8 million bond last September to be paid with taxpayer dollars over the next 30 years, overriding Mayor Desiree McLaughlin’s veto.
In an Aug. 25 working session, representatives of ARCove presented a detailed budget and floor plan that will not only improve the opera house but also usher in city officials back into the building. Most offices are currently located at the Proulx Community Center.
The notable additions in the proposed plan are additional stairways and an elevator in the back of the building, as well as structural improvements and updates to the opera house’s stage and mezzanine.
“We’re really honored to be part of this, because we’re very committed to historic heritage, especially the ones that help bring the community together,” said Tracy Kozak, principal architect at ARCove. “I know this building can do that with these improvements, so we’re very excited to see that happen.”
After the bond passed, early proposals for the opera house included costs outside of labor or construction that were still necessary for the project — known as soft costs — that at first came out to $1.6 million to $2 million in addition to the bond. Kozak said the newest iteration excluded some construction to account for the soft costs and now is just over $6.8 million.
If costs do increase unexpectedly, grants, tax credits and additional money saved by the Franklin Opera House, Inc. are expected to pay off anything over the bond price.
“I feel really comfortable now,” McLaughlin said. Though, she and the city council agreed to push a vote to approve the plans until Sept. 8 to “weigh all our factors.”
An Aug. 27 community forum presented a five-year strategic plan of how the opera house can become a center for the arts in Franklin. The plan listed several metrics for success, including maximizing capacity for events, successfully marketing the space to invite talent and creating a robust team of volunteers.
Several improvements to the opera house were also included in the plan, such as balcony reconstruction and seat additions, a lighting system and a video wall. Those, along with working capital costs and intention to add money to a reserve fund, the total costs adds up to $850,000 that the board feels confident in paying off within five years.
“We understand fully that what we have is a scaffolding and a framework that’s based on, we hope, realistic assumptions about the market for what the Franklin Opera House organization produces and presents,” said Janet Davis, principal at consulting firm Clarkson Davis, during the forum. “We know that we will need everyone’s help in the community to help make sure that we have it right.”