BRISTOL - John Vaughan sees far past the leaky roof, the worn seats and the crumbling ceiling. Instead, his eyes dart to the remnants of the old Pastime, and a vision of what he hopes it will be someday. Walking through the unheated, empty old theater on Bradford Street, he points out original traces of the building that have been all but lost over the 70 years since the art deco-style building was built in 1934.

"Look at this," he says, pointing to a stucco wall hidden behind a later addition. "Orange. These are art deco colors."

There is much to do — and two years, minimum — before the old building is resurrected. But the theater is a diamond in the rough, says Mr. Vaughan, the former president of the Pastime Theatre Foundation now serving as head of the foundation's building committee.

Pastime Theater volunteer John Vaughan in the vacant Bradford Street landmark.

Once it's restored, it will be a "vital part of Bristol. It's got everything; it's central, it's relevant. It's going to be great when it's done."

From the outside looking in, little has changed at the Pastime since the non-profit foundation purchased it with an interest-free $350,000 town loan in November of 2003. Passersby peering through the lobby doors still see the same posters for "The Sixth Sense" and "Wrong Turn" that were hanging when the place closed that June. The doors are still locked, and apart from several recent grants, the group still has to raise nearly all the estimated $2.5 million it will cost to restore the building and open it, as planned, by late 2006. But appearances can be deceiving, says Mr. Vaughan.

"There is a lot happening," he said. "The architects are working on plans, we're working on grants." And "the vision is there."

If everything goes as planned, fund-raising — helped out by a soon-to-begin capital campaign — will yield enough to allow the building to open on schedule. And then?

"Personally? I'd love to see dancing, the theater here," said Mr. Vaughan, who works as an architectural restoration specialist.

"In a former life I would have loved to have been a professional dancer. I would love to see that here."

Possibilities

That could happen, if Don Hirsch and the foundation's board of directors get their way.

Mr. Hirsch, a Montpelier, Vt., resident who has restored historic theaters across the northeast, spends three or four days a week in Bristol helping formalize the foundation's vision for the theater.

Hired by the board to oversee the old building's rebirth, Mr. Hirsch has big plans for the place. While many old theaters and vaudeville houses fall every week, he believes the Pastime's ultimate fate will be much brighter. He envisions the building as not just a place for movies and local theater productions, but a cultural and artistic hub for the East Bay and beyond. Such ventures have fared well elsewhere in Rhode Island (see seperate story), and he's betting the same thing will happen on Bradford Street.

"You see it all the time," he said. "It's pretty much the same story all around the country. And they all go through this thing where the wrecking ball's on the property but they're saved at the last minute."

"There's really an awful lot of richness that the Pastime can add to the East Bay community."

He believes that richness goes far beyond showing only movies, a role the Pastime filled dutifully over the 69 years it was open. Foundation members have held focus groups, done studies and looked at other cultural centers in Rhode Island, and they plan on tailoring the theater to meet needs they say aren't being met.

While movies will be shown, "we're not looking to replicate the program of the Showcase Cinemas," he said. "Rather, we want independent film, like the Cable Car Cinema (in Providence). We might do some second-run movies (like the old Bristol Cinema) but we're looking to fill a void."

That could include independent art films, foreign pieces, and films geared toward the ethnic populations in Bristol and Warren, including the large Portuguese community.

There are other plans as well. Much like the Greenwich Odeum, the Pastime could begin welcoming regional and national musical, theatrical and other live acts. The need is definitely there, said Mr. Hirsch, even with the rise of the Narrows Center for the Arts just down the road in Fall River.

"We would go out, find the artists, pay their fee, sell the tickets and keep the profits. The money would get put back into the theater, a portion of it would go to the continued restoration effort."

Finances

Mr. Hirsch said the board is under no illusions that showing movies and the occasional musical act will generate enough revenue to keep the non-profit theater afloat. It will take a concerted effort, he said, to get the word out that the theater is there and can be used as a resource for all.

Besides movies and music, foundation members plan to make the Pastime available (for a fee) to community theater groups, private residents for parties, organizations that could use the place for fund-raisers and special events — even as a reception hall for weddings and other big events. Making the theater available to the largest number of people will not only raise the building's stature, but help the foundation's bottom line. And that kind of thing has to happen for the venture to be successful, he said.

"Everybody realizes you don't get many shots to do these renovations the right ay, so we want to do it correctly from the beginning. Sometimes, boards start out and they miss their mark because they haven't done their homework and the confidence in the community erodes."

"I don't think that's going to happen here. They're (the board) doing it right."

From Vaudeville to limbo

The Pastime Theater on Bradford Street turned 70 years old earlier this month. Here are a few memories from along the way:

* December 1934: The Pastime Theater opens its doors for the first time. The previous Pastime, housed in the old Congregational Meeting House, burned earlier that year.

* 1978: The lobby is remodeled and a wall is built down the center of the building, dividing the 410-seat hall into two movie cinemas.

* 1980s: The Pastime becomes Bristol Cinema, where second-run movies are shown. The operation closes in the late 1990s.

* 2000: The building reopens as a first-run theater, but closes for good in June 2003.

* November 2003: Owner Al Bilodeau sells the building to the Bristol Pastime Theater Foundation for $340,000. The purchase was made possible by a $350,000 loan from the Town of Bristol.

* Late 2006: Foundation members hope to re-open the old theater to the public.

Pastime story similar to Greenwich Odeum's

Volunteers hoping to restore the Pastime Theatre need only look to the other side of Narragansett Bay for inspiration, as a classic old vaudeville house in East Greenwich once faced the same fate as Bristol's but has since become a resounding success.

Now known as the Odeum, the old Greenwich Theater, built in 1926, has a history eerily similar to the Pastime. The building was originally a a vaudeville house but served many purposes over the years. It ended up as a movie theater but closed its doors in 1990 when the economics of running a small second-run theatre proved too much.

Soon after it closed, the building was purchased by a small group of volunteers, who organized a non-profit corporation, solicited private and grant-based funding, and spent three years rehabilitating the building before it opened to the public in 1994.

Since then, the Odeum has thrived, attracting not only local and national theater and lecture performances but national and international musical acts as well. Taking the stage at the 410-seat theatre have been the likes of Greg Brown, Richie Havens, Dmitry Sitkovetsky (among the top five violinists in the world), Boris Berezovsky (a pianist who won both the Leeds and Tchaikovsky competitions), Patty Larkin, Tom Chapin and more.

The shows bring in revenue, but the building also supports itself by hosting fund-raisers. In the decade since it opened, it has hosted events for Project Aids, Cystic Fibrosis, the Timothy Lyons Scholarship Fund, Ronald McDonald House and the Ocean State Adoption Resource Exchange, to name a few.

What will the Pastime hold?

Members of the Pastime Theater Foundation plan to use the hall for many different events and attractions. Among them, it will or could be used:

* As a movie theater, where second-run, ethnic and independent movies are shown.

* As a concert hall.

* As a theatrical house, where local, regional and even national theatrical troupes could perform.

* As a private hall for fund-raisers, special events, community events, parties, receptions and the like could be held.

Want to help out?

For those interested in helping the Pastime Theater Foundation reach its goal, donations can be made by calling 253-2504. The mailing address is:

Bristol Pastime Theater Foundation

P.O. Box 512

Bristol, RI 02809

By Ted Hayes

thayes@eastbaynewspapers.com