SCHUMER VISITS STRAND THEATRE AS IT CELEBRATES 100TH ANNIVERSARY AND TOURS HISTORIC BUILDING RENOVATIONS AFTER SECURING CRITICAL FED FUNDING FOR BELOVED WASHINGTON COUNTY THEATRE TO KEEP DOORS OPEN FOR HUDSON FALLS COMMUNITY THROUGH PANDEMIC
Schumer Secured A Nearly $90k Save Our Stages Grant For The Strand Theatre That Served As A Lifeline During The COVID-19 Pandemic And Kept The Historic Venue’s Doors Open – Now, The Historic Theatre Is Celebrating Its Centennial Anniversary
Schumer: After 100 Years, Save Our Stages Grant I Created Is Helping Ensure The Show Can Go On In Hudson Falls For Years To Come!
Celebrating its 100th anniversary, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer today visited the Strand Theatre in Hudson Falls and toured recent building renovations, praising the progress that has been made since he last visited in 2017. Schumer said this revitalization would not have been possible without the nearly $90,000 Save Our Stages grant that he secured for the Strand Theatre at the height of the COVID-19, helping to keep this historic Hudson Falls venue alive through the pandemic and allowed it to reach its centennial anniversary.
"As the Strand Theatre celebrates its 100th anniversary this year, I am thrilled to see all the great work that has been done to revitalize this historic venue for both residents and tourists in the southern Adirondack region,” said Senator Schumer. “The Strand Theatre is the beating heart of arts and culture in Washington County, but the COVID-19 pandemic hit it and other Upstate NY venues hard. I was proud to secure a nearly $90,000 Save Our Stages grant to keep the doors open and the lights on of this historic theatre. Over the last few years, these federal funds have been critical to the Strand and the broader Hudson Falls community to ensure the show can go on. Now as the Strand celebrates is centennial anniversary it is curtains up so this beloved theatre can be enjoyed by generations to come in Washington County.”
First opened in 1924, Strand Theatre was a silent film/vaudeville theatre and a central feature of Hudson Falls' bustling downtown. Over the years, what would become known as 'The Strand' at times attracted over 100,000 visitors yearly and became a prime destination for tourists from throughout Northern New York, Vermont, and Canada. However, after closing its doors in the 1960s, the Strand Theatre was repurposed as Kingsbury Town Hall until Jonathan Newell purchased the building in 2016, reviving the historic theatre.
Schumer last visited the Strand Theatre in December 2017, shortly after Newell purchased the facility. The Strand has since undergone significant renovations and officially reopened its doors in late 2019, only to be derailed by the COVID-19 pandemic a few months later. In 2020, Schumer announced that the bipartisan COVID relief package he passed into law would include the Save Our Stages Act, which provided $15 billion nationally for independent live venue operators, independent movie theaters, and cultural institutions such as live performing arts organizations and museums that had been significantly impacted by the economic effects of the COVID crisis. Schumer specifically created the Save Our Stages Act to support “shuttered venue operators” amid the COVID-19 pandemic, and once included in the relief package, he worked to ensure that New York would receive a significant share of the total national pot – personally delivering a $89,672 Save Our Stages grant to the Strand Theatre that kept its door open through the pandemic.
This year, the Strand is celebrating its 100th anniversary. The Strand Theatre is currently the only major music venue in Washington and Warren counties that is open year-round. The theater has recently hosted notable acts like former Eagles lead guitarist Don Felder and former Lynyrd Skynyrd drummer Artemis Pyle. Before he was president, Ronald Reagan visited the theater in 1956 while he was a screen star working as a promoter for General Electric Co. The Strand has become a local attraction for residents and visitors to the lower Adirondack region, vital to the regional tourism economy.
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