25: Pemaco Block

The PEMACO Building was constructed in 1926 by Thomas J. McIntyre, Senior, the father of the former mayor and United States Senator of the same name. PEMACO stands for People's Market Company, a chain of grocery stores throughout the state, one of which operated on the ground floor.

An auditorium-dance hall was opened on the upper floors in February 1927. McIntyre intended the theater as an auditorium, ballroom and performance venue. About 12,000-square-feet in size, the theater is ringed by a balcony, reached by a divided staircase.

James Irwin, Senior, best known as the owner of the Winnipesaukee Gardens at The Weirs, was the first to lease the space, which he christened the Gardens Theater. By the late 1920s, the theater began showing movies as well as serving as a venue for dancing, meetings, variety shows and stage productions.

The theater operated as a movie house, under several different managements, until late in 1955, when it closed. During that period, Saturday morning westerns, cartoons and shorts were a favorite of Laconia kids. Later, the Streetcar Co., a local theater group, performed there in the early 1970s and The Lighthouse, a church group, and its successors, occupied the upper floors for a time. 

The building was purchased in 2021 by private sale.  The theater was preserved and adapted for reuse by the current owners.