A longtime local institution in Bridgton is evolving once again, as the University of Maine’s 4-H program is turning the iconic Magic Lantern Theater into an educational learning center while still maintaining the local movie theater and pub.

The location, on Depot Street in downtown Bridgton, has been home to a movie theater since the 1920s, with the original being torn down in 2006 to make way for a more modern version, which includes three theaters — one large, which accommodates about 170 people, and two small, accommodating about 80 people each. 

Today, the educational center will fill a gap in coverage in Maine, said Susan Jennings, executive director of Maine 4-H and a member of the faculty at the University of Maine.

“Now, with this learning center, we’re covering the entire state, which is nicer,” she said.

Owner Frank Howell put the property on the market in 2018, after rebuilding it in 2006. While he said he neither wanted nor knew how to run it as an educational center, he always hoped it would wind up being used that way.

“We built it with that mission in mind,” he said.

Jennings jumped at the chance to use it for the 4-H program.

“When I toured it, I could see it,” she said. “The space lends itself to education for kids and the community.”

Howell said he was thrilled to hear what Jennings wanted to do with the building.

“The whole vision clicked into place,” he said. “It was an ‘aha’ moment.”

Technically, Jennings said, the theater had to close on Oct. 14 until she can arrange for new state licenses. Once that happens, she said, it will re-open as the movie theater and pub local residents remember, but it will also offer classes and instruction for participating 4-H students.

Part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 4-H is an educational program that has been active in Maine for more than 110 years, Jennings said. Today, she said, 6 million kids participate in 4-H programs nationwide, with about 30,000 in Maine. Most people assume, based on its roots in the USDA and its agricultural exhibitions often seen at state fairs, that animal husbandry and crop management are all that 4-H is concerned with, she said.

In fact, Jennings said, the program offers much more than that, including all manner of hands-on learning experiences for children of all ages — as young as 3, or old enough to be in college. The program, she said, offers the experiences to those who might not otherwise be able to afford them.

“It’s all about encouraging kids to pursue their talents and their dreams,” she said.

The new center, Jennings said, joins other 4-H centers run by the University of Maine’s Cooperative Extension at locations elsewhere in the state, including Bryant Pond, Greenland Point Tanglewood and Blueberry Cove, and Lafayette on the campus of the University of Maine at Orono. The program also includes 16 county extension offices, Jennings said.

In Bridgton, Jennings said the new center, formally named the Magic Lantern Innovation Lab and Learning Center, will focus on visual and performing arts, digital media and arts, possibly local farming, and also culinary instruction in the center’s pub kitchen.

“It’s not exactly learning in a classroom,” she said. 

Jennings said she ultimately didn’t know how many kids would be involved, but noted that she anticipates serving children from Fryeburg, Sweden, Denmark, the lakes region and even some of the Oxford Hills area. 

“This area of western Maine is underserved by the university,” she said.

Jennings hopes to raise another $500,000 to hire new staff. She has hired two full-time managers and four other staff to run the center already and plans to hire an assistant director and additional staff over the coming year.