‘Theater gods’ drop fire curtain at Colonial

LACONIA — Architect Jared Guilmett described it as “an act of the theater gods.”

The main stage curtain at the 104-year-old Colonial Theatre in downtown Laconia, which had been mostly retracted into the rafters, had dropped on its own.

Nobody had wanted to disturb it for fear of damaging it. Its condition was not clear.

Recently, the ties that were holding it in its retracted position released, revealing a curtain that dates to the first days of the theatre. It contains a scene of sailboats and gondolas on the canals in Venice. The curtain appears in remarkably good shape.

“We believe the reason for the Venetian scene is that Benjamin Piscopo, the builder, was from Venice, so this was sort of reminiscing about home,” said Guilmett, who works at Misiaszek Turpin, which has done architectural work on a proposal to refurbish the theater.

The curtain contains asbestos and was used to provide fire safety in the theater.

Guilmett said there are ways to treat the curtain to preserve it while containing the asbestos so it doesn’t become airborne.

“It adds so much,” he said. “This is a gem.”

There’s a stamp on the back of the curtain that says “Johns Manville, Boston.”

Guilmett said such curtains typically dropped at the beginning of a production and at the end. At intermission, other curtains would drop.

Fire curtains are still required in theaters. They prevent a fire that starts in one section of a building from spreading to another.

“By code, you are required that any time you have a stage opening, you need to have a fire curtain, so we’ll be putting in a modern fire curtain,” Guilmett said.

He also said every effort would be made to preserve the original curtain.