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As the crowd started to grow prior to the rebuilt Zeiterion’s ribbon-cutting, Frank Almeida approached state Rep. Tony Cabral.
“We did it!” said the beaming chairman of the nonprofit theater’s board. And then again, “We did it!”
It was as if Almeida could not quite believe that the people of this small city of 100,000 people — the relatively small group that runs the ‘Z,’ the city government, the state legislative delegation and the local business community — had actually pulled off the complete reconstruction of this now gleaming $37 million historic performing arts center. And right in the heart of New Bedford!
A half an hour later during his own remarks to the several hundred people on hand for the dedication ceremony, Cabral amped up Almeida’s comment and shouted to the crowd in the handsome, meticulously preserved auditorium — the ecstatic gold-layered ancient Greek dancers hovering directly above him — “We did it! We did it!”
Almeida did not seem to mind Cabral’s apparent co-opting. It was a day for a very big group bow, and everyone from Executive Director Rosemary Gill to Mayor Jon Mitchell to Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll to Gill’s toddler grandson Wesley seemed to want to get in on the action.
And why not? They all had a big role.
The Zeiterion, a 1923-built former vaudeville theater that underwent its first reincarnation to silent film hall in its very first year of existence, has had more lives than a proverbial cat. Slated to be demolished for a parking lot in the 1980s, those original New Bedford prophet preservationists, Sarah Delano and John Bullard, literally rescued it from the ash heap of history, almost by their bare determined hands. The founders of WHALE had seen the value of New Bedford’s aging buildings during an era when the best and brightest professional planners were talking about urban renewal and demolition as the way to New Bedford’s future.
Still, The Zeiterion has never ever, until now, had a full-scale, historically accurate, complete renovation — the kind of complete rebuild that big, wealthy cities with roaring economies do, but smaller cities only rarely.
But from its handsome red showroom decor to its rich red carpets, the grand staircase in the front hall and expansive rehearsal and classroom spaces upstairs, the box office and three handsome bars, they’ve redone it all. And those sparkling, easily accessible and privatized bathrooms! Guys, remember the long bathroom trips down that narrow staircase to that narrow room in the cellar? The new Z has everything a first-class theater in any American city could want.
It wasn’t easy.
And as Almeida referenced with his own “We did it!” remarks, this restoration was looking a little shaky for a while.
The Z rebuild had the bad luck to be launched during the first year of a countrywide pandemic. With the economy shut down and materials and construction costs exploding, its price tag eventually went from an estimated $18 million when it was first envisioned in 2018 to $21 million at its launch in 2021 to a final breathtaking bill of $37 million.
The out-of-control inflation plaguing every aspect of our 2020s economy could very well have killed it. But somehow, by 2026, Rosemary Gill and her indefatigable crew managed to land it and on time. They raised a huge amount of money from the South Coast private sector in an economy when many were doubtful they could. Including a large gift from an anonymous donor.
The New Bedford City Council — never a group to have the long-range vision, never mind the common-sense realization that it takes money to make money — nearly killed the project twice. First in 2023 when several loquacious councilors balked at the 99-year-lease for the nonprofit. Of course that kind of lease is common for this kind of a nonprofit borrowing this kind of money for a city-owned building.
Still, several of the councilors trotted out their free-market, libertarian arguments trying to convince the rest of their wiser colleagues that there was somehow an unknown profit-making concern out there that was going to successfully rebuild the 102-year-old theater on its own.
Then the council nearly blew it a second time last year. The council actually voted 6-5 to reverse a $495,000 city subsidy that had nearly doubled in the two years The Zeiterion was shut down. The subsidy is needed for the nonprofit’s fiscal health and, unlike a subsidy to a private ownership, isn’t making anyone rich.
Thankfully, after an outcry from the people of New Bedford and surrounding towns, Councilors Naomi Carney and Derek Baptiste, reversed themselves. That was at least better than Linda Morad, Shawn Oliver and Maria Giesta who held their ground in zeroing out the Z subsidy.
But give Carney and Baptiste credit. They swallowed their pride, and after extracting a pledge from the Z to increase their minority programming even further, they both showed up for the Friday ribbon-cutting.
The emotion of just how big a lift this rebuild was for the nonprofit performing arts company that has run the building for decades was more than evident in Executive Director Gill’s remarks.
Even grandson Wesley seemed to realize the pressure that had been on her and the whole Z team to land the ambitious project. Wesley ran up to Gill just before she cut the ribbon, and she later choked up several times while addressing the crowd. She really almost lost it mentioning Nicole Merusi, the vice president of strategic advancement, whom she described as her right hand.
There’s a whole lot of talk these days about free markets and taxpayer burdens and on and on. It’s all ideological baloney, in my opinion.
This rebuild of The Zeiterion will bring millions of dollars a year into downtown restaurants, pubs, vendors and is worth its weight in gold for the reputation of New Bedford itself as a place for the arts of all kinds. It’s estimated that right now the theater already brings in about $11 million a year.
But as national groups like The Commodores, an ABBA tribute group and national storyteller troupe The Moth come through this season, it will generate even more money in 2026.
In the end, a combination of city, state and federal (American Rescue Plan Act) monies paid for about $21 million of the Zeiterion’s $37 million. The state steered $7 million to it, and nearly an additional $7 million of the city and Bristol County’s ARPA money went into it.
The Z, on its own, rolled up its costume sleeves and raised the final $16 million itself. Anyone who doesn’t understand that’s a bargain for the people who live and work here has a different value system than the majority of us. That’s OK, but even if you didn’t like the subsidies, come and celebrate this wonderful New Bedford gem in person anyway.
As the New Bedford Symphony Orchestra finished tuning up for Saturday’s night’s launch, Gill and the leaders of the theater’s two resident companies, David Prentiss of NBSO and Artistic Director Elizabeth Bettencourt of Festival Theatre spoke about the bright future.
The renaming of the new street-facing box office in honor of Festival Theatre founders Armand Marchand and George Charbonneau has given the whole event a sort of theatrical blessing. And the opening night programming was all metaphor for the dream and the achievement. Matt Ban sang “Some Enchanted Evening” and Abby Casey brought down the house with “Climb Every Mountain.”
By the time the symphony had sailed its way through Stravinsky’s “Firebird Suite,” the whooping, sold-out audience of 1,200 seemed to have levitated half way to the restored chandelier. Maestro Yaniv Dinur melted hearts describing the local philharmonic as finally having a performance space worthy of them.
It was all sublime, really.
You’ll enjoy the new Z and this great accomplishment. As Friday’s ribbon-cutting program wound down, City Councilor Shane Burgo, a singer whose powerful pipes have regaled city events for years, stepped to the microphone and, a cappella, belted out a soulful rendition of “Feeling Good.” It was powerful, and it was deep and the crowd was up out of their plush new seats, pounding their hands.
“It’s a new dawn, it’s a new day, it’s a new life for the Z,” he sang in a twist to the lyrics. “And I’m feelin’ good!”
Jack Spillane is a New Bedford Light news columnist.
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Congratulations on the successful completion of the project. Too bad the article didn’t mention the hard work of those who did the actual work. But then again, it’s not reported that anyone mentioned them from the stage.
Looking forward to attending future shows at the Z!
Great article! Call it exactly like it happened! Thank you…