Vail-Leavitt Music Hall

Vail-Leavitt Music Hall
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Vail-Leavitt Music Hall
Location:	Peconic Avenue, Riverhead, Suffolk County, New York, US
Coordinates:	40°54′59″N 72°39′45″W / 40.91639°N 72.6625°W / 40.91639; -72.6625Coordinates: 40°54′59″N 72°39′45″W / 40.91639°N 72.6625°W / 40.91639; -72.6625
Built:	1881
Architect:	David F. Vail, George M. Vail
Architectural style:	Beaux-Arts
Governing body:	Private (Vail-Leavitt Music Hall)
NRHP Reference#:	83001809
Added to NRHP:	August 25, 1983[1]

The Vail-Leavitt Music Hall is a late nineteenth century theatre presently in use on the east end of Long island in Riverhead, New York. The Theatre/Music Hall was built by David F. Vail, with the help of his son George M. Vail in 1881. David was a local lumber dealer in Riverhead and Eastern Suffolk County Long Island area.

The theatre/music hall opened on October 11, 1881, and has only occasionally served as a movie theater since its beginnings. With its almost 130-year history, The theatre/music hall could hardly be more distinguished as when Thomas Edison used the theater for early experiments in sound movies in 1914.

The music hall began its start with candle lighting, however, it is said The Music Hall had its own gas plant behind the theatre, gas fixtures were placed all along the horseshoe balcony, and gaslight continued at the music hall until the advent of electricity arrived in July 1888. The venue now had electric lights.

In 1908, George M. Vail, now sole owner of Music Hall, sold the building to Simon Leavitt, father of the late well-known men's clothier, Theodore Leavitt, whose widow, Mollie Leavitt, owned the music hall until its acquisition by the Council for the Vail-Leavitt Music Hall in 1982 through a grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development arranged by the Town of Riverhead's Community Development officer, Robert Schemer.

The main theater, and its upstairs balcony is a miniature opera house designed by J. W. Flack. The Theatre/Music Hall was abandoned and forgotten for decades. In the late 1970s, the venue began its restorations and has continued ever since.

From the early eighties to the late nineties, old movies were shown on a small screen in its downstairs space. These movie showings helped the Theatre/Music Hall raise monies in the Theatre/music Halls restoration. The theatre has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since August 25, 1983.

Status: Open/Renovating/Restoring Screens: Single Screen Style: Beaux-Arts Function: Live Stage-Theater Seats: 300- with Balcony Chain: Independent

References

1. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2008-04-15. http://nrhp.focus.nps.gov/natreg/docs/All_Data.html. 

External links

• Vail-Leavitt Music Hall (Official Website)
• FILM; "Era of the Silents Makes a Comeback," by Barbara Delatiner (New York Times: January 9, 2005)
• Vail-Leavitt Music Hall (Yahoo Yellow Pages and Maps)
• Vail-Leavitt Music Hall (Theatermania.com)
• Riverhead Blues & Music Festival