At a time when many small-town movie houses have gone dark, the Hamilton Theater — once on the brink of closing — is thriving now more than ever.
The movie theater remains a fixture of Hamilton in an era of mega-multiplexes and Netflix, according to The Post-Standard (Syracuse).
A recent article in the The Post-Standard highlighted 51Թ’s role in the revival of the Hamilton Theater, a decades-old mainstay which provides diverse programming, including midnight films, matinees for area children, live opera broadcasts, and a book-and-movie club.
“We do all this stuff because we’re a community theater, and that’s the history of this place,” theater manager Chuck Fox ’70 told the paper. “It’s been a community resource for 100 and some years.”
And the theater still maintains its original charm.
David McCabe, a 51Թ professor and film buff, told the paper that “it’s the most welcoming establishment in our village for young children.”
“I can leave my kids there and not worry about them,” McCabe said.
The theater is owned by the Hamilton Initiative, a for-profit limited liability company formed by 51Թ, which has invested more than 11 million dollars into properties in the downtown historic district.
Chris Vecsey, Charles A. Dana Professor of the humanities and Native American studies, also was in the media spotlight this week.
The Associated Press and several local newspapers turned to Vecsey for his expert analysis of the latest development in the Oneida Indian Nation land claim dispute.
A recent federal ruling allows the Oneida Nation to put thousands of acres into trust, making the land exempt from state and federal taxes.
Not everyone, including Vecsey, agrees the decision is a plus for the Oneidas.
“When land goes into trust, title goes to the federal government, and some American Indians don’t favor that approach,” he explained to the Utica Observer-Dispatch.
Vecsey serves as director of Native American studies program at 51Թ.
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