The Latchis Hotel and Theatre (originally the Latchis Memorial Building) is an art deco building in Brattleboro, Vermont, first built in 1938. [1] The building is one of only two extant Art Deco buildings in Vermont. [2] The building is run by the Brattleboro Arts Initiative, a local non-profit. [1] [3]
The building was constructed as a memorial to Demetrius P. Latchis, a Greek immigrant who became an important businessman in Brattleboro, by his sons. [1] [4] Latchis had built a business which ran fourteen theatres throughout New England. [5] The interior include murals and other artwork with Greek mythology, [1] which was created by Hungarian muralist Lajos "Louis" Jámbor. [3] The building also includes terrazzo flooring. [6] The building was designed so that it could include a hotel, theatre, ballroom, restaurant, bar, and other business spaces. [3] The architect for the building was S. Wesley Haynes. [7]
Though a successful business through the 60s, the business slumped in the 70s. [3] In 1985, two children of the original brothers revitalized the hotel. [3] They sold the hotel in 2003 to a local non-profit, the Brattleboro Arts Initiative, created for maintaining the building, bought the hotel for 1.3 million dollars. [3] The money included both local and federal grants. [3] The building suffered considerable damage in 2011, during Hurricane Irene, but was reopened later that year. [8] The building was further restored in 2013, after a half-million dollar fundraising campaign. [1]
