The Shire of Worcester, Part the Third

From Dave Brigham:

My tour of Worcester left off last time at the old Olympia Theatre on Pleasant Street, after featuring the so-called Junction District, a former manufacturing center that has been partially redeveloped, as well as some cool things along Main Street (see February 3, 2024, "The Shire of Worcester, Part the Second"). In the first part I covered the Canal District, the area around Polar Park and parts of Main Street (see January 27, 2024, "The Shire of Worcester, Part the First").

In this final installment covering my initial trip through Worcester, I will discuss a concert venue, several murals, an old hotel and its bar, a mall that's trying to hang on, a statue featuring a boy riding a turtle, and much more. In the future, I will showcase as much of Worcester as I can. I've already made one return trip, and have a few other plotted out.

Located at the corner of Main Street and Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard, The Palladium hosts concerts -- a lot of heavy metal, emo and rap acts -- as well as wrestling and other events.

Opened in 1928 as the Plymouth Theatre, the venue had a seating capacity of 3,200. The theater closed for several months in 1930, and when it reopened, it served largely as a movie house, according to MACRIS. It closed briefly in 1973, and then again in 1975. Renamed The Palladium, it began hosting live music around 1980.

Diagonally across Main Street from the theater is the Romanesque Revival property known historically as the Merchants and Farmers Insurance Company Building.

Formerly home to the Rehab nightclub and the Irish Times brewery and restaurant, 242-246 Main Street appears to be vacant. I searched online for "Court Park," but came up empty. I'm not sure if that's the name of a proposed business or residential complex.

The building rose in 1875, and was renovated in 1901, according to MACRIS. The renovation was completed by the Merchants & Farmers company, which moved its offices nearby. The first tenant after the rebuilding was Flint & Barker, a furniture store, according to MACRIS. As you can see below, a business called Coghlin's Furniture was located here at some point.

Back on the east side of Main Street, I had to make a photo of Joe's Albums, because I love record stores.

Located in Mechanics Hall, a gorgeous concert hall opened in 1857, the record shop sells new and used albums (there is also a store in Northampton). As for the hall, it is listed in the National Register of Historic Places, and has been judged by architectural historians as the nation's finest pre-Civil War concert hall, according to the venue's web site. The sun was difficult the day I passed by, so I didn't get a shot.

At the corner of Norwich and Mechanic streets, I spied a ghost sign hewn into the living rock (Spinal Tap, anyone?).

Currently occupied by the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (MCPHS), this solid, yellow-brick/granite/limestone building was built in 1895 for New England Telephone & Telegraph. "The first telephone exchange in Worcester was established in 1877 with one hundred subscribers," according to MACRIS. "By 1879, the number of subscribers had increased to 450, rising to 1,200 in 1895 and 9,289 in 1907. Between 1877 and 1886 the telephone exchange was located in Harrington Corner. After several changes of location, the Telephone Company moved into the Norwich Street building in 1895."

In 1896, NETT installed an "automatic signal multiple switchboard," MACRIS continues, the first of its type in the world. "[T]his switchboard automatically signalled the operator when a caller picked up a telephone and later, when the call was completed."

Across Mechanic Street, I spied what I at first assumed was another dead mall....

...but it turns out this retail patient seems ready to get off life support.

I didn't go through the open door, but I could tell that there were at least a few businesses in there. Google Maps indicates that Doho Cafe & Doughnut Bar is located here, as is Family Continuity, a private, non-profit mental health and social services agency. This Mass Live article from May 2019, about the sale of the mall, indicates that the mall's tenants included "small retail stores and churches." I don't know if there are still houses of worship here. The mall had by that point long been considered an eyesore, especially as more of downtown Worcester began to get spruced up.

Converted to a mall in the late 1970s, I believe, this building started out life around 1943 as a Woolworth's department store. "In 1941, [F.W. Woolworth & Co.] submitted plans to the state Department of Public Safety once again; this time for a new, three-story store block in a radical Art Deco style," according to MACRIS. "To achieve this plan, Woolworth purchased what was left of the old Crompton Block east of the Besse Building....Unlike the buildings it now occupied, the Crompton Block went entirely through the block to Mechanic Street; in fact, it even wrapped around the back of the Besse Building....The Besse Building and the Crompton Block were demolished to make way for the new store....No sooner had the new store opened than the downtown commercial and real estate economy went into decline. By 1956, the building was in the hands of the Irving Trust Co., although the store remained open for a number of years more. In 1970, F.W. Woolworth & Co. was listed in the house directory among a number of concessionaires, like Cole National Key Corp, J & M Farms Inc (deli), Speedcraft Shoe Service, and Radio Shack. Sometime between 1973 and 1975, the Woolworth store closed."

In August 2023, the City of Worcester granted alcohol, food and entertainment licenses to Odd By Nature, to operate a brewery called Odd By Worcester in the mall, according to the Worcester Telegram & Gazette. A few years ago, the mall's owner, Northeast Properties, issued a request for retail proposals, seeking supermarkets, gyms, restaurants and other potential tenants for the space.

On the building just north of the mall, I spied a ghost sign that was uncovered in 2018 after redevelopment work stripped away metal panels that had been added to the original facade of 401 Main Street.

Known historically as the Clark Block, this builiding dates to 1854. A quick bit of research determines that Kennedy's was a store of some sort, mentioned alongside Woolworth's, Newberry's and Grants by folks on sites sharing memories of Worcester.

From that spot on Pearl Street, I headed south past Worcester Common. I realized that I'd been in this area on my sole previous Backside trip to Woo-town. And as I suspected, the old movie theater I'd written about after that trip had long since been torn down (see June 1, 2012, "We'll Always Have Paris"). But in its place is a nice gathering place with a great work of art work overseeing things.

The Worcester Beer Garden & Taproom operates a patio and pavilion during warmer months, offering brews and other drinks, as well as cornhole, giant Jenga and other games, according to its web site. The outdoor entertainment site fills the space occupied by the Capitol Theatre, which was known in more recent years as the Paris Cinema.

Completed in 1928, the theater changed hands many times over the years and by 1970 was known as the Paris. On the side wall of the adjacent Ziggy Bombs sub shop is a mural by Damien Mitchell called "Paris of the '80s."

I assumed this was a reference to the demolished theater, but I did some research and found out that, to certain people, Worcester was for a time called "Paris of the '80s," with tongue firmly planted in cheek. "'Paris of the 80s' really had nothing at all to do with the Paris Cinema, nor was it ever the city’s official motto," Luka Raun posted on Medium back in 2018. "T-shirts with the phrase started to appear in 1979, and it was a poignant, wistful, ironic and self-deprecating joke. It was really very clever, and I don’t know whose brainchild it was. Worcester was downbeat. It was a rustbucket city, and had a perpetual inferiority complex in comparing itself to Boston. Of course, like everywhere, it had its bright and creative people, and it was from these people, and really only among these people, that the phrase circulated. It never got big, but it was a nice little amusement because it held out a little hope."

I don't know who Luka Raun is, but I know that a random guy sitting outside the Worcester Public Library gave me a hot tip about the next thing I made a photo of. As I walked by the library, I noticed a few somewhat strung-out folks chilling on a low concrete wall. One of them said to me, "Enjoy the game today," referring to the Worcester Red Sox, who play not far from the library.

"Thanks, but I'm not going to the game," I replied. "I'm just walking around taking photos."

"Oh, a tourist, eh?" he said with a chuckle. "Make sure you get a picture of Turtle Boy," he laughed. "The boy who's [having quite intimate relations with] a turtle!"

He pointed me back in the direction I'd come from, and there on the corner of Franklin and Church streets, fronting Worcester Common, I found Turtle Boy, and...oh boy.

Formally known as the Burnside Fountain / Boy with Turtle, this sculpture was begun in more innocent times, 1912 to be exact. It was started by Charles Harvey, who committed suicide in 1912 at the age of 42, before the sculpture was completed. According to this Telegram & Gazette article, "'Harvey was bitterly despondent about his work and so sensitive to the slightest criticism that any expression of adverse opinion caused him genuine suffering,' the artist's obituary in the Jan. 29, 1912, edition of The New York Times read."

Harvey was a student of Augustus Saint-Gaudens, an American known for works including the Robert Gould Shaw memorial on Boston Common. After Harvey's death, Sherry Edmundson Fry completed the work. Fry studied under Frederick MacMonnies, a one-time student of Saint-Gaudens'. Fry's works include fountains at the Toledo Museum of Art.

As you can imagine, the boy and his special friend have been the butt of jokes ever since it was installed, and even before. The sculpture was stolen at least once, and has been vandalized, dressed up and allowed to fester (I've seen photos online of a very green boy and turtle). "Over the years, Turtle Boy has been dressed with objects, including Mardi Gras beads, a knitted hat and scarf, and, during the pandemic, a face mask," the above article continues.

Money for the sculpture and fountain was donated by Harriet Burnside to honor her father, a prominent Worcester attorney, according to MACRIS.

OK, let's move on.

After a cursory examination of Worcester's most provocative statuary, I continued south down Salem Street. There, I spied a cool mural by an artist from Austin, Texas.

Jason Eatherly says on his web site that his "artwork is heavily influenced by abandoned structures, decay, and weathered environments." Sounds like my kinda guy. I often wonder, while making photos of cool murals like this around the Bay State, how does an artist from Texas (or Mexico or Florida or wherever) get hired to create something on the side of a building in Worcester (or Somerville or Chelsea or wherever)?

Heading southwest along Salem Street, I was impressed by the exterior of one of the buildings that make up The Grid, a redevelopment project from MG2 that includes apartments and retail.

I believe the building in that photo is the backside of 24 Portland Street, which opened in 1927 as the Bancroft Garage, according to MACRIS. "The Bancroft Garage, with a capacity of 1,000 cars, was hailed as the 'largest in this section of New England' when it opened in 1927. In recent years the Bancroft Garage [was] occupied by an automobile tire dealer."

At the corner of Salem and Myrtle streets is the singular Printers Building.

I'd shot this place the first time I cruised through Worcester, many years ago, so I was happy to stumble across it again. Home to many businesses and organizations, including the Southeast Asian Coalition of Central Mass., business incubator WorcLab and Arts Worcester, the Printers Building's main tenant is Davis Publications, as you can probably guess by the company's logo seemingly hovering above the building.

Founded in the early 20th century, Davis Publications had as its initial mission creating "a periodical that would help art teachers develop and use art curricula," according to the company's web site. In the late 1960s, the company began publishing textbooks, and in the following years expanded its educational resources with videos, CD-ROMs, DVDs and online programs.

As for the building, it was completed in 1922 when three printing companies -- Davis Publications, Commonwealth Press and J.S. Wesby and Son -- combined forces. "They believed it would be more efficient to have binders and printers in the same facility and product could shift between the floors," per the Davis web site. "The Printers Building was also one of only two buildings designed to withstand the weight of heavy presses."

Commonwealth Press and J.S. Wesby and Son went out of business late last century.

From the Printers Building, I walked south under the railroad tracks, then east along Lamartine Street until I came to a fantastic Red Sox-themed mural on the back of the PPG Paint Store.

"Legends of Fenway" was painted by Artifakt Studios, with the lead artist being Ryan Gardell and the assistants Audrey Tesserot, Tyler Wasson and Dwayne Glave, according to the art group's web site. That's Hall of Famer Pedro Martinez featured in my photo.

Around the corner on Harding Street, I admired yet another mural on the rear of Tom's International Deli.

Credit for the mural on the Tom's Instagram account is given only to "Ferdinand." As for the deli, it "was established by Thomas Haddad in 1969....Soon after his son John Haddad and his daughter Lisa Haddad joined the family business which they operated until 2006," according to the store's web site. "A Polish family from Boston purchased Tom’s Deli in 2006 and operated the business until 2008. In October 2008 Darek and Iwona purchased the business and kept it as a family operated business. In 2010 Tom’s relocated to 52 Millbury Street, which is about 500 yards for the original location. Since then we had a daughter, Lena, who one day will join the business."

I love stories like that!

At the corner of Carpenter and Millbury streets is McGovern's Package Store.

I haven't found out much about the store, but I'm guessing it's been there for quite a few years. I love the sign, and hope it lights up.

Heading north on Millbury Street, I soon found myself in front of Golemo's Market, a European market specializing in homemade kielbasa, pierogi, golabki, ham, kiszka and headcheese, according to its Facebook page. The company also operates a travel service and check-cashing business, all of it housed in a one-time theater.

"Built about 1918, this building originally contained a movie theatre, a lunchroom, and stores," according to MACRIS. "The building's major occupant was the movie theatre, known as the Rialto....[I]t opened in 1918, offering 1,250 red plush spring-cushioned seats and air conditioning. The substantial quality of the building and the large capacity and luxurious accommodations of the theatre itself were in contrast to most other neighborhood theatres in Worcester at that time."

I'm not sure when the Rialto (or perhaps a subsequent theater) went out of business. Nor have I found out much about the history of Golemo's, other than that it has served as a gathering place for Polish immigrants for decades.

At the head of Kelley Square, where Millbury and Vernon streets meet, is, appropriately enough, The Vernon, a residential hotel and bar about which MACRIS provides some fantastic historical details. I learned some great stuff from a few of my Instagram followers, as well as from various sources online.

I'm not sure whether this place is still an apartment hotel, or whether there are perhaps offices on the upper levels. MACRIS indicates The Vernon was completed in 1901 for owner Michael McGady, an American-born Irishman who worked in machine shops and as a store clerk before opening his own liquor business.

As for the bar, it was established in 1935 "by Francis and Beaven McGady, sons of the building's owner," MACRIS continues. "Named the Kelley Square Yacht Club, the bar's interior was remodelled to appear as a 'replica of the innards of the Mayflower.' The interior was decorated with original murals painted by Joseph Miron, Francis McGady, Walter Johnston and Alfred Kaplin [sic - it's Caplin] (better known as Al Capp, creator of 'Lil Abner') who were classmates at the Boston Art School."

Perhaps not all Backside readers are familiar with Al Capp, but I know the name because my father used to talk about "Lil' Abner," a comic strip that ran in newspapers from 1934 to 1977, when I was 12 years old.

As for the name of the bar, MACRIS quotes a 1971 Worcester Telegram article: "According to a 1971 article about the 'yacht club,' the bar was a major gathering place during the Great Depression for the inhabitants of the area's many three-deckers and tenements, serving as a sort of social club and 'to poke fun a t the millionaire's world; the Newport high society scene that didn't know a $20-a-week working man existed, never mind that he was often out of work at that.'"

I believe there is a main bar as you walk in the door, and then a Prohibition-era speakeasy in the basement of The Vernon. A quick search online led me to a blog post (since taken down) which provided details of a tour given by a bartender of the basement space. "We were led into a room referred to as The Ship Room or Worcester’s Yact Club," he indicates. "The room was erected to resemble the interior of a ship with booths and a stage for performers. The Ship Room has really become a hot venue for up-and-coming local bands. A far cry from when the place in its entirety was referred to as ‘a crack head hangout.’"

Because I was in Worcester on a Sunday morning, this place wasn't open, and I assumed it was out of business. I'm so happy to learn that it's still going, and that it used to be a music room (perhaps it still is). As for the speakeasy: "[The bartender] showed us where one of the entrances was; right through the women’s restroom! Hookers used to hang out there and offer sexual favors to the bar patrons. The going rate was just $5 up until recently (now not offered.) Yikes!! I do know Babe Ruth liked women and booze! It’s no wonder he spent some time here!"

Yep, Babe Ruth was known to hang out here. I just love that.

I checked the back of the building for ghost signs, and was pleasantly surprised to see an artist at work.

Once again, thanks to an Instagram follower, I learned that the artist is Eamon Gillen, who owns Crown of Thorns Tattoo.

I doubled back past Electric Haze, a hookah bar and live music venue at the corner of Millbury and Lamartine streets, to peep the cool mural.

The work is by Matt Gondek.

Along Harding Street I spied another great work of art, for The Dawg Alley, which may or may not still be in business.

The final stop on my first tour of Worcester is a mural along Harding Street memorializing a deli that stood at 126 Water Street for nearly 100 years.

As I mentioned in the first post in my Worcester series, this area of Worcester, especially along Water Street, was once a heavily Jewish neighborhood. Weintraub's Deli opened in 1920 in another location in Worcester, and moved to Water Street in 1940. In 2018, the deli's web site indicated that "[t]he building and business assets are being acquired by local developer Ed Murphy who is looking for an operator to lease the space and operate the business."

Alas, nobody took over the deli. The old Weintraub's space is currently occupied by Suzette Creperie & Cafe, which opened in August 2020.

I have more Worcester posts coming later this year. As of this publication, I have made a second trip to Woo-town. I hope to make others as well.