Criterion A: Entertainment/Recreation
Period of Significance: ca. 1909 - 1957
Local Level of Significance
Greenwood Garden Playhouse in Portland, Cumberland County, Maine is located on Peaks Island in Casco Bay. The ca. 1909 wood frame building is a summer theater and entertainment venue constructed as part of Greenwood Gardens recreation area. The building is locally significant under Criterion A Entertainment / Recreation. As one of the last remaining historic recreation buildings on the island, it represents the island's historic role as a summer recreation destination for Portland residents. As the last remaining building on the island used for summer theater, it reflects the importance of that entertainment type locally. The larger Greenwood Garden complex is otherwise no longer intact and does not have integrity as a district. The nominated property includes a broad lawn typical of the historic setting and three smaller non-contributing, but functionally-related buildings. The island as a whole has many summer cottages and is still a summer destination, but few commercial recreational buildings remain. Other public theaters, amusement rides, bowling alleys, carousels, bandstands and game buildings have burned, been demolished or altered significantly. The period of significance is from ca. 1909 to 1957 which represents the date the building was constructed as a multi-purpose entertainment venue through its last use as a summer stock playhouse.