Holyoke Memories: The Winter Palace

This story would not have been told without the work of Granby's Elbert C. Aldrich, the driving force behind the Winter Palace. Born in 1881, Mr. Aldrich was educated in Granby and entered Worcester Institute of Technology at the turn of the 20th century. After college, he was a civil engineer for Auburn, New York. He returned to Granby around 1912.

Upon his return, he constructed the Aldrich Lake dam, creating Granby's first large recreation area known throughout Western Massachusetts as a swimming and boating site. Lakeside was accessible both by trolley and car. He provided roller skating at the beach pavilion. With a long family history, he became the largest landowner in Granby.

On November 1, 1940, Holyoke's Mayor Toepfert announced that Mr. Aldrich had leased the entire building housing the Falco (abbreviation of Farr-Alpaca Company) auditorium with an option to purchase it for $30,000 if exercised before March 1, 1941. The building, located at 108 Cabot Street, was owned by the Farr group and the City of Holyoke, as the failed business owed back real estate taxes.

The Farr-Alpaca Company had constructed the building for storage and added the auditorium for its employees. Basketball, roller skating, bands, including Falco's talented performers, and the Mater Dolorosa minstrels. Employees would join in for lunch, and some would play cards in the hall. It was estimated to have a capacity for 2,000 onlookers.

On March 5, 1941, Mr. Aldrich closed on the purchase of the building. On the same day, he leased the fourth floor to Livingston Worsted Wools, Inc. for $1,750 per year for three years.

Mr. Aldrich had planned to renovate the ground-level auditorium with a new floor and turn the building into an amusement center.

It was wartime, and he planned to use part of the building for storage contracted with the Defense Supplies Agency. A portion of the 250 million bales of Australian wool was expected to be stored there.

The grand opening of the Farr Alpaca Auditorium Roller Skating Rink was held on November 15, 1940. A new maple rink floor was installed, music was played, and new roller skates were available for rent. Mr. Aldrich was the rink's manager.

Over the years, many groups, such as the 4-H Club, Scouts, schools, and public skaters, have enjoyed their time at the Winter Palace.

Other than advertisements and events held at the rink, I could not locate any information regarding the defense contract for storage or other news during the 1940s. By 1951, the Connecticut—Massachusetts Tobacco Cooperative was using two upper floors of the building, and William Skinner & Sons another floor. The cooperative soon used three floors when the Skinner firm was asked to vacate.

The Winter Palace closed for a time, as an advertisement announced its grand opening under new management on September 10, 1954.

On August 26, 1955, Elbert Aldridge sold the building to the Connecticut-Massachusetts Tobacco Cooperative.

In 1956, a roller skating show called Roller of Revues featured two national skating champions who performed exhibitions. The show also featured precision and dance routines and comedy acts for the fundraising benefit of the 60-member Figure and Dance Club.

On April 11, 1957, an ad was placed for a giant farewell party, indicating that the Winter Palace's final day of operation would be April 14, 1957.

Citations:

Newspapers.com (paid subscription): Citations: Holyoke (Massachusetts) Transcript & Transcript-Telegram; Springfield (Massachusetts) Republican; publication dates and pages are shown.

Price & Lee City Directories, Holyoke, Massachusetts, Holyoke Public Library.

1911 Richard's Atlas of the City of Holyoke, Massachusetts