The Criterion Theatre is a cinema, performance theatre, and venue located on Cottage Street in Bar Harbor, Maine. It opened in June 1932 featuring vaudeville performances and movies during a time when Bar Harbor's summer scene was at its height. Today it is one of only two Art Deco theaters in the state of Maine and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The 760 seat theatre was built for a convicted bootlegger named George McKay. After his release from federal prison, McKay solicited bids for constructions of a glamorous movie palace. The high bid of $95,206 was beat by Bunker & Savage Architects of Augusta, Maine who built the theatre in just six months for a contract price of $58,000. That's about $900,000 in today's dollars, a surprisingly low figure for such a magnificent structure. A $2 million dollar contribution from an anonymous donor in 2014 made possible the purchase and restoration of the Criterion which now operates as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization committed to safeguarding this historic space for stories, storytellers, and audiences. Today, almost everything in the building is original or as close as possible to it, including the light fixtures, curtains, seats, and stencils on the ceiling.
Description: The Criterion Theatre is a cinema, performance theatre, and venue located on Cottage Street in Bar Harbor, Maine. It opened in June 1932 featuring vaudeville performances and movies during a time when Bar Harbor's summer scene was at its height. Today it is one of only two Art Deco theaters in the state of Maine and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The 760 seat theatre was built for a convicted bootlegger named George McKay. After his release from federal prison, McKay solicited bids for constructions of a glamorous movie palace. The high bid of $95,206 was beat by Bunker & Savage Architects of Augusta, Maine who built the theatre in just six months for a contract price of $58,000. That's about $900,000 in today's dollars, a surprisingly low figure for such a magnificent structure. A $2 million dollar contribution from an anonymous donor in 2014 made possible the purchase and restoration of the Criterion which now operates as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization committed to safeguarding this historic space for stories, storytellers, and audiences. Today, almost everything in the building is original or as close as possible to it, including the light fixtures, curtains, seats, and stencils on the ceiling. [show more]
Topography by A.J. Ogle, Frank Larner, B.P. Taylor, J.L. Watkins, F.E. Doane, H.D. Cummings, J.H. Lycett, B.J. Keating, R.S. Pearse, R.V. Ford and Steven T. Mank, surveyed in 1934-35 and 1939-40.
Description: Topography by A.J. Ogle, Frank Larner, B.P. Taylor, J.L. Watkins, F.E. Doane, H.D. Cummings, J.H. Lycett, B.J. Keating, R.S. Pearse, R.V. Ford and Steven T. Mank, surveyed in 1934-35 and 1939-40.
L.S. Robinson Co. Real Estate - Insurance, Southwest Harbor
1951
Southwest Harbor
Directory of Southwest Harbor, Maine compliments of L.S. Robinson Co. Real Estate - Insurance. The numbered locations on this map are index numbers which are explained on the reverse side of the map (the second image of this item).
Description: Directory of Southwest Harbor, Maine compliments of L.S. Robinson Co. Real Estate - Insurance. The numbered locations on this map are index numbers which are explained on the reverse side of the map (the second image of this item).