“If the people will insist that the Memorial Auditorium be kept always at its best it will ever be a real tribute to those living and dead who served their country well. If our citizens will use the building as their own and make it serve the needs of community, the State and even the Nation, it will be a blessing to Burlington.” – Mayor Dr. Clarence Beecher, 1928
Mayor Weinberger Commits to Restoration of Memorial Auditorium and Continued Public Ownership
All-Wards NPA to Host Public Meeting, Provide Overview
The All-Wards NPA has agreed to host a city-wide forum on the future of Memorial Auditorium, likely to be held September 26, and that will bring us all together for a conversation about Memorial’s needs and our community’s vision for the building, and for the city. More information about the event will be posted here as it comes together.
Mayor Miro Weinberger, 2015
“My hope is that there can be a successful adaptive reuse of Memorial Auditorium that adds to the vibrancy of the downtown and reduces the financial drain the underutilized building has been on the taxpayers for many years. I am open to any potential uses of the building that meet those goals.” — Mayor Miro Weinberger
Saving Memorial Auditorium: A Cause for Us All
Memorial Auditorium was constructed in 1928 as a community space for gathering, music, public meetings, sports events, markets, arts activities, and to honor local war veterans. Memorial is a publicly-owned historic building and our city’s main commons and large civic space. When it was built, the city pledged to care for it as a community space for generations to come but proper maintenance of Memorial was overlooked for decades.
A group of citizens has started an advocacy group to preserve Memorial Auditorium as a community space — a nonpartisan and inclusive effort. Find info here and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/SaveMemorialAuditorium/ and read the extraordinary history of the building at uvm.edu/~hp206/2016/pages/haggerty/default.html, and view a presentation about its historic programming at http://www.retn.org/show/how-kill-city-gentrification-inequality-and-fight-neighborhood.
Save Memorial Auditorium! 