The Coolidge Corner Theatre, an art-deco style theater located in Brookline, Massachusetts, conducted a $12.5 million expansion that includes two new theaters, a community education and engagement center, and a new entrance with improved accessibility. The expansion began in July 2021, and finished in March of 2024. The theater remained open during this time, and welcomed their audiences with a glistening lobby and six theaters.
The Coolidge was originally built as a church in 1906, and redesigned as an art deco theater in 1933. Since then, the theater has remained authentic to its vintage style, and has become New England’s most successful independent, nonprofit cinema. Audience members had concerns about the renovation corrupting the beloved style, but the theater recognized this apprehension and maintained its historic charm with the renovations.
Michael Maynard, Coolidge Board Chairman, says that the “expansion will allow us to do more of what we do best in a gorgeous new space that fits perfectly with our historic theater.” Maynard describes the expansion as “the Coolidge that we all know and love, only bigger and better.”
As someone who has visited the theater multiple times since the expansion, I can speak to the fact that the theater successfully executed this goal. The theater has been advertising the expansion for a couple of years, and initially, I had my reservations. Making historic buildings “bigger and better” to fit into modern architecture often strips the vintage charm. It’s always a shame to see small, beloved homes and buildings being destroyed only to have the same style as every other new expansion. The Coolidge, however, made it a priority to fossilize the vintage, art-deco parts of the building.
The Coolidge is an impressive institution aside from the recent renovation. Executive director & CEO Katherine Tallman says the mission of the theater is “to entertain, inform, and engage—building a vital community through film culture.” To sustain this mission, the Coolidge offers the “Coolidge Award” to filmmakers and actors whose body of work is recognized as consistently original and challenging. Recipients of this award include Oscar-winning Meryl Streep, Julianne Moore, and Ruth E. Carter. The Theater also hosts classes and seminars open to the public regarding contemporary and classic films.
Right on the green line, the Coolidge is easy to get to from Wellesley. I encourage all of you to watch an experimental film at the established theater! They release their showtimes a few days in advance, so make sure to check on Wednesdays what movies will be playing over the weekend.