Slaid Cleeves plans Gardiner concert

Johnson Hall to host Samuel James

Thom Wall-Master of Modern Vaudeville in Gardiner

Renovations expose bones and secrets of Maine’s oldest opera house

Now that the long-anticipated renovation of the Johnson Hall Performing Arts Center in Gardiner is underway, the work is revealing the building's history.

New England comedians take stage for Johnson Hall’s Stand Up Comedy Series

Tough End String Band to perform Johnson Hall Free Waterfront Concert

Johnson Hall Free Waterfront Concert to feature Unfinished Blues Band

Photos: Salvaging wood from Maine’s oldest opera house

Renovations to Johnson Hall Performing Arts Center, considered the state's oldest opera house, began this month. A crew from Barn Boards & More, a local wood salvaging business, was pulling up and saving the tongue-and-groove floor boards from the theater Thursday to reuse as flooring or make into tabletops. By December 2023, the three-story performing arts venue in Gardiner is expected to reopen to the public with a 400-seat theater, a large lobby and concession area, full-service box office, green rooms for performers, and an elevator. Local hotel owner Benjamin Johnson turned the former livery stable into a performance hall in 1884, and it became an opera house in 1888. All photos by Kennebec Journal photojournalist Joe Phelan.

Random Ideas plan Johnson Hall Free Waterfront Concert

Gardiner’s Johnson Hall secures additional $150,000 from city

Contribution to help inch historic opera house closer to fundraising goal that has jumped in recent months.