Right in front of you is a grand, three-story brick building with a bright vertical neon sign on the left that spells "HOLLY"-you can’t miss that bold black-and-white marquee stretching over the entrance!
Imagine stepping back to 1930; the spicy scent of fresh paint is in the air, and workmen are scrambling to finish building Medford’s newest sensation, the Holly Theatre. Would you believe construction started in 1929 and then hit a brick wall-thanks, Great Depression!-leaving everyone on the edge of their seats until work finally resumed the following spring? But Frank Chamberlain Clark, the local architectural whiz, made sure this place would shine, and shine it did. The Holly could squeeze in 1,200 people-one-tenth of the town!-all eager to see glamorous vaudeville and marvel at the magic of moving pictures.
If you close your eyes for a moment, you might just hear tap shoes of vaudeville stars shuffling across the stage or a gasp rippling through the full house as the first glittering movie rolled on the big screen. This was the beating heart of downtown Medford up to the 1970s, until the giant Holly struggled to compete with those snazzy new, smaller theaters. By 1986, the curtain fell for good, and the lights went dim.
But cue the triumphant music! After sitting quietly for decades and landing on the National Register of Historic Places, the Holly was rescued in 2010 by the JPR Foundation. The roof was leaking, the trusses were failing, but the dreams were bigger than ever. They restored her dazzling façade, installed a jaw-dropping 347-light marquee with enough neon to light up half the block, and one night in 2012, the “grand relighting” turned darkness to dazzle again! Even actor Jim Belushi pitched in-no joke-helping gather donors while falling in love with this local gem.
Today, after years of hard work, the Holly bursts back to life, restored and ready to host generations of applause to come. What a comeback story-sometimes all you need is a little hope, a whole lot of neon, and maybe a Hollywood star or two!
