Clemens Center PAC
Clemens Center PAC. 207 Clemens Center Pkwy, Elmira, NY 14901
The building now known as the Samuel L. Clemens Center for the Performing Arts opened December 21, 1925 as Keeney’s Theatre, a 2,362- seat vaudeville/movie house designed by architect Michael J. DeAngelis of Rochester, New York. The opening movie was The Ten Commandments and the organ was premiered by S. L. Stambaugh of Chicago. In 1952 the auditorium was “modernized” which included removal of the box seats and a name change to the Elmira Theatre. It closed in 1976 as plans to widen State Street threatened the theatre with demolition.
Fortunately, a community effort successfully raised the $750,000 required to save the downtown icon. The theatre was then renamed as the Samuel L. Clemens Center for the Performing Arts, honoring Elmira’s favorite adopted son, the legendary American humorist known as Mark Twain. Married to Elmira native Olivia Langdon, Clemens spent summers in Elmira for 20 years.
The wider street required the removal of the original entrance, lobby, and about 600 seats of the upper balcony. A new entrance and lobby were then built at the southeast corner of the building. The theatre reopened in its new role in October 1977 with seating capacity reduced to 1,650 and improved acoustics. Phase I of Clemens’ next renovation came in 1999-2000, involving building improvements and an upgrade of the “new” lobby. In 2007, the theatre closed for Phase II, a one- year period of auditorium restoration by Evergreen Studios and expansion of the stagehouse. As part of the restoration the box seats that had been removed in 1952 were reconstructed as original. The theatre is now in regular use as the home to Broadway musicals, classical concerts and a wide realm of popular entertainment for the Southern Tier of New York State.
Details of the Clemens Center’s theatre organ are accessible using the button to the right.