FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2011
VOL. 20 NO. 102
BERLIN, N.H.
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Princess, Rialto screens go dark
Cooking up a treat
BY MELISSA GRIMA THE BERLIN DAILY SUN
BERLIN — Citing tough economic times and declining attendance, TBA Theatres announced on Sept. 8 that both the Princess Theater in Berlin and the Rialto Theater in Lancaster would be closing their doors. The Princess was closed as of Thursday, while the Rialto promised one final show on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. — a free movie, most likely “Grease” if the hints teased on the theater website have been correctly interpreted — in an effort to “go out the way we came in,” according to the company’s press release. The closure leaves Littleton’s Jax Jr. Cinemas as the last remaining movie theater in operation north of the notches. After purchasing the Rialto in 2007, the TBA owners, Steve and Tonya Taylor, Joe Bowen, and Heidi Bogner, expanded into Berlin in 2009 with the purchase of the Princess. They later added a southern property with the Lilac Mall Cinema in Rochester. The Rochester location remains open. Known locally for their special events, including costumed midnight screenings, holiday pajama matinees, concerts, free films, fundraisers and even celebrity A grant from Berlin City paid for the skill building course that these three Gorham Middle-High School students took part in recently. Part of the course instruction, led by teacher Neil Tenenbaum, was cooking skills, which the students put into practical use by treating Gorham’s oldest resident, Helen Lamontagne, 97, to a menu of her choice. The trio, from left, Austin Webb, Zach Bigue and Zach Couture, cooked up beef stew, homemade bread and blueberry pie, in Mrs. Lamontagne’s kitchen, much to her delight. (NEIL TENENBAUM PHOTO)
Council wants to hear from public at education forums BY BARBARA TETREAULT THE BERLIN DAILY SUN
BERLIN — The city council said it wants to hear from the public on the regional discussion on education in the Androscoggin Valley before weighing in on the subject. “I just want to sit there and listen,” said Mayor Paul Grenier. Superintendent of School Corrine Cascadden and School Board Chair Nicole Plourde met with the council at its Tuesday meeting this week to update the council on the forums that will take place in Berlin, Gorham, Randolph, Shelburne, Milan, and Errol over the next month. Cascadden said she and SAU Superintendent of Schools Paul Bousquet got a grant from the Neil and Louise Tillotson Fund to help pay for two facilitators to run the forums. She said there Buying or Selling Real Estate? Call WAYNE MICUCCI 723-7015 RE/MAX Northern Edge Realty 232 Glen Ave Berlin 752-0003
will be information provided on enrollments and cost per pupil for the schools. Cascadden said she has no preconceived outcome but wants to hear from the public. “I don’t know where it’s headed,” she said. Plourde said the goal for her is to see the district offer as much as it can to the city’s students. Cascadden noted that she had provided the council with some research about different school structures that City Manager Patrick MacQueen put together five years ago. Berlin is a dependent school district with the city council setting its budget. She said some cities have independent school districts that hold an annual school meeting and the voters approve the budget. There are also cooperative school districts like the Gorham,
see PRINCESS page 6
Plans for former Bartlett School moving forward BY BARBARA TETREAULT THE BERLIN DAILY SUN
BERLIN -- A proposal to convert the former Bartlett School into housing for college students is progressing. White Mountains Suites partners Steven Binette and Steven Halle requested the city council extend the purchase and sale agreement for the property to Nov. 15. The council Tuesday approved the extension. The agreement expired Sept. 1 The partners reported they are working with Laconia Savings Bank and the N.H. Community Development Finance Authority on financing for the project. Within the next two weeks, they said an energy audit will be done on the building. Berlin Housing Coordinator André Caron said an expert from the Small Business Administration has helped the company prepare a business plan for the venture. The school department closed the school at the end of the 2008-09 school year and in the fall of 2009 the city issued a request for proposals for the building. The Binette Family, owners of Ray’s Electric and the Valley Creek Eatery, submitted a plan to convert the building into housing for students at White Mountains Community College. see SUITES page 6
see FORUMS page 7
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