Pitman's turns off stage lights for good

LACONIA — Pitman’s Freight Room, which has been hosting performances and events downtown for about a decade, has closed, one of its owners announced this week.

Dick Mitchell, who, along with his wife, Connie, operated the comfortable and intimate performance space, said the pandemic has given them time to reflect on their past and future, and determined that it was time for them to leave the stress of small business ownership behind them.

“We had a couple of close friends that passed away last year, one younger than us and one about our age,” said the 71-year-old Mitchell. So, when they received a favorable offer to purchase the real estate at 94 New Salem Avenue, “We took it… We decided to retire,” Mitchell said.

The closing is scheduled for the end of this month. The purchasing party wishes to remain anonymous for now.

The real estate includes a 4,800 square-foot wooden building and 0.17 acres of land, according to city records. For tax purposes, it is assessed at $188,000. According to the Pitman’s website, the building was constructed as a “track-side freight depot” in 1890 by Pitman Manufacturing of Laconia, one of the city’s hosiery manufacturers.

The Mitchells purchased it in 1988 and used the space for boat storage for a few years and as an antiques store for 16 years. In 2009, they closed the store and renovated it, adding a second bathroom, commercial kitchen and HVAC, so that it could reopen as a performance venue and conference space.

Pitman’s could hold around 200 guests, seated in the kind of furniture that you might find in a friend’s living room or on the back deck. The building, in order to fit into a triangular lot, was an unusual shape. That architecture was no doubt intended to maximize its function, storing crates either bound for, or arriving via, a railroad car. However, it also had the side effect of creating a space where every audience member was close to the stage, and a room which had great natural acoustics.

At the venue’s height, it would host at least two performances each weekend, as well as weddings, parties and community theater productions. The stage attracted notable musicians and comedians who came to appreciate the attentive audiences and rustic, relaxed atmosphere.

“It’s a fun business, a great business,” said Mitchell. “I will miss it. We met so many nice people up there, between the entertainers and regular customers. We really had fun with it,” Mitchell said.

Last year was, unsurprisingly, a difficult year for Pitman’s. Once pandemic restrictions were lessened toward the end of the summer, Mitchell tried bringing in musicians and comedy shows, including names which have sold out the venue in the recent past. However, he only sold a fraction of his available tickets, and said he and Connie didn’t relish the thought of rebuilding their business.

The building has “morphed” into several different uses over its century-plus history, he added, and is about to morph again. As for Mitchell, “I’m going to morph into an avid fisherman.”

Mitchell said he’s “grateful that we’re walking out of there alive. We’ll miss the people, the bands, the entertainers. It’s been a fun ride, now we’ll just relax.”