Great news reported on Ted Hess Mahan’s Facebook page today ….
The Nathaniel Allen House in West Newton, which is owned by the Newton Cultural Alliance, finally received its occupancy permit. It has been a long and winding road since the NCA bought the house in 2012 and set about preserving this historic jewel. I am proud to say “we did it!”
For almost 90 years, Allen and his children used this building as a dormitory and school building for one of the most progressive schools of its time, which was racially integrated, co-ed, enrolled international students, included physical education and science as central parts of its curriculum, and opened the first kindergarten in the US.
After almost a decade of historic preservation and renovation, the house has been converted into a performing arts center and gallery for visual arts that will be known as the Allen Center for Arts and Culture. The building is not yet open to the public because of COVID-19 restrictions, but we are planning some outdoor events for this Spring and Summer as a “soft” opening.One of the truly historic and unique elements of the house is the two lane bowling alley, which has been lovingly restored. The Newton History Museum has a wooden pin and bowling ball that may have been used at the Allen House in the 19th century. I have been haunting antique stores and online trying to find two sets of ten pins and bowling balls. If you are or you know a Newton woodworker who has access to a lathe and would be willing to recreate the bowling pins and bowling balls for the Allen Center, please let me know.
I am sharing some recent photos of the interior of the Allen Center, as well as the bowling pin and ball at the Newton History Museum. We are very excited about opening the Allen Center to the public where you will be able to see Newton artists, musicians, authors, lecturers, and others. In the meantime, we are working on anaudio/video-recording system to record and/or stream live performances online. I will provide more details as they become available.
I have already reached out to the wood shop instructor at Newton North High School and am awaiting a response.
Thank you in advance for any help you can provide. I can be reached by email at [email protected].
If you are interested in renting space, please contact the Newton Cultural Alliance at [email protected].
Congratulations to everyone who was involved in the restoration of the Allen House. It was an enormous undertaking over many years. Just when the end was in sight, Covid19 pushed it away again. It’s great to see they’ve reached the finish line. I look forward to seeing music, theater, art and lectures (and bowling) there in the years ahead.
Here are historic photos of the Allen House from it’s former heyday and beHere are Tira Khan’s photos of the Allen House before construction beganfore/during reconstruction courtesy of Historic Newton
Here’s my plan for the Allen House that I’ve been waiting seven years to do. I better get to work.
Jerry, thanks so much for sharing this. The Newton Cultural Alliance has been restoring this historic house and converting it into an arts and culture center for artists, musicians, lecturers, dancers, authors, and others to use as the only venue in the city specifically dedicated for this purpose.
The NCA is still in the process of planning for programming at the Allen Center starting in the Spring and Summer, while we navigate ever-changing COVID-19 restrictions. Among other things, we are working on an audio/video recording system for streaming and recording to share performances at the Allen Center. We also hope to start with some outdoor events this Spring. More details to follow.
There are so many people to thank for making this possible. Adrienne Hartzell Knudsen, the NCA’s directing manager, has worked tirelessly with the board of directors to complete this project and realize a dream that the co-founders of the NCA had in 2012 when they purchased the Nathaniel Allen House in West Newton.
Classic Construction has been our contractor and Donald Lang has been our architect throughout this project, and stuck with us through thick and thin while restoring the Allen House to its former splendor. We are also grateful to the Mayor, the City Council, the Newton Historic Commission, and the Community Preservation Committee for their support and funding for this project. This project would not have been possible without $2.3 million in CPA funds for the first phase of restoration, as well as the cost of our state-of-the-art geothermic HVAC system. The geothermic wells and HVAC system will heat and cool the building while eliminating greenhouse gas emissions, and savings that will continue for many years to come.
There are so many others I want to acknowledge, but at the risk of leaving someone out, I want to thank our neighbors, who have lived through years of construction, repaving, noise, and disruption with very few complaints. We cannot thank you enough for your patience and support.
We believe that the Nathaniel Topliff Allen Center for Arts and Culture, or the Allen Center for short, will be Newton’s premiere venue for arts and culture. We look forward to opening our doors to the public in the near future. I urge you to visit the Allen Center once we are up and running.
Thank you!
For more information, you can check out our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/ncalliance, and our website at https://newtonculture.org.
What a terrific addition to the city’s cultural life. Congratulations!
It is absolutely beautiful. Great job and I’m delighted that they not only preserved but restored the thw two lane bowling alley.
This looks amazing. I’m so excited.
I’m not seeing Ted’s photo of the pin & ball. I have a friend of a friend who owned a bowling alley in Needham for years, and might have some contacts for historic equipment. I’ve reached out, but a photo of what we’re talking about would be helpful.
Doug, here are links to the pin/ball on Historic Newton’s webpage:
Bowling ball
Bowling pin
This looks wonderful!
An exciting addition to Newton’s cultural/historic world. I’m looking forward to events at the Allen House. Locally we are in a performance-space desert. Kudos to all involved.
Where is the Allen House?
Webster Street in West Newton I believe
A beautiful building that was almost lost. A great project. A long time coming. ThanksTHM and all who persevered for so long to bring it to fruition!
@Linda Finucane, I miss you so much. I would never have survived the Land Abuse Committee without you.
I have so many stories about the painstaking, loving restoration of this historic house that I would love to share with everyone. Once this awful pandemic subsides, I am looking forward to touring the Allen Center with visitors. I hope you will come join us.
Congrats to Adrienne Hartzell & the Board of Directors for dedicating their time, passion & dedication to restoring the Nathaniel Allen House back to its historic glory! What a wonderful community resource this will be. As past chair of the committee that published CREATENewton, an arts & culture strategic plan, one of the challenges we heard repeatedly was Newton did not have enough rehearsal & programming space. Well guess what? The Allen Center for the Arts has beautiful space for rehearsals, programming, theatre, art gallery etc. The indoor & outdoor courtyard have been meticulously restored.
Congrats to all ! You should be very proud of your accomplishment.
[ insert standing ovation here ]
What an amazing restoration!
I wonder if Newton cultural folks would be interested in restoring the main building of the Walker Center, which is currently for sale. It has a rich history of social justice advocacy.
Thank you Ted and everyone else for what looks like an amazing place. I drive by the house on my way home from Washington Street when I come that way and for many years I keep looking and seeing. And now I’ll probably be inside of it sometime this year and it looks great