SPACE
The BAI Frontier
Or how Brattleboro Arts Initiative
got where it is today
Once upon a time, in an era of elegance and style, a splendid structure was built on the corner of Main and Flat Streets, in the heart of Brattleboro, Vermont. The Latchis family, looking for a way to say “thank you” to its adopted country, couldn’t have found a more spectacular way to do so. In 1938, this stately jewel of a building became home to the Latchis Hotel and Theatre and became the family’s signature holding, dubbed “A Town within a Town, Under one Roof."
Built as a monument to the moderne, the sleek Latchis Hotel and Theatre opened to great fanfare... and has played to appreciative audiences ever since! The hotel’s rooms were designed to provide comfort with style to the new generation of sojourners who came to Brattleboro for the cultural nourishment provided by the town’s arts and culture scene, even then. The cool, cavernous theatre, with soaring arched ceiling, seemed to touch the sky – a perfect palace for performance, live or on celluloid, the perfect place to dream one’s own dreams.
And so, through almost seven decades, travelers from as far as Athens and as close as Albany have found their seats on the aisle of a splendid downtown. Lighting their way down that aisle, generations of the Latchis family nurtured these splendid spaces. And although the dream lives on, the time came in 2003 for the Latchis family to pass their legacy along.
Waiting in the wings to take up the charge —
Brattleboro Arts Initiative!
Keeping its eye on the prize — creating space for the arts.
Take a trip through our Web site and discover the excitement of The Latchis Project; Brattleboro Arts Initiative’s other impressive undertakings and collaborations; and how BAI, with your interest and help, can and will open up the next frontier for the arts in Greater Brattleboro.
Brattleboro Arts Initiative: Leadership and Advocacy for the Arts in Southern Vermont.
