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The historic Flushing Town Hall has a new look.
The theatre and event space fully reopened on Friday, March 14, after a five-month, $1.2 million interior renovation.
The makeover will freshen up the venue after more than a dozen years of use. The Flushing Town Hall building is more than 150 years old, and it has been an active theatre for 35 years. Its last renovation was completed in 1999.
“After 15 years of extensive wear and tear on the building it was time to upgrade and to renovate,” said Ellen Kodadek, executive director of Flushing Council on Culture and the Arts, which operates the Hall.
The money for the renovation was partly funded by former Borough President Helen Marshall, various Queens City Council members and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.
The makeover includes new flooring in the hallways and the gift shop, a new heating, ventilation and air conditioning system (HVAC) throughout the building, and new floors and chairs in the theatre, which seats 308. The theatre’s movable risers were also replaced. Just like the old risers, the new ones will allow the theatre to transform at will.
“We are capable of taking the seats and the risers out and setting the room up so that it doesn’t look at all like a theatre, but you could do a wedding or a banquet or leave room for salsa dancing,” Kodadek said. “And that’s something very special and different about our theatre. Many theatres don’t have that capability.”
Flushing Town Hall hosts about 75 performances around the year, including jazz concerts, theatre plays, educational events for children, puppetry, dance, art galleries and workshops. They’ve also rented out the space for special events, including weddings and school graduations.
On the same day it reopened, The Queens Courier donated $1,500 to Flushing Town Hall, from money that was raised at the annual Rising Stars event. The money will be used to foster educational services for underprivileged students.
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