WORCESTER, Mass. - It's been nearly 25 years since anyone has seen a game or concert or in the Worcester Memorial Auditorium.
From the outside, it's a grand structure, but on the inside, Jake Sanders, project executive for the Architectural Heritage Foundation, said it's filled with life, character and memories extending generations.
"It's held everything from Holy Cross basketball games, Bob Cousy played basketball on this court here, [to] Louie Armstrong, Bob Dylan, Grateful Dead," Sanders said.
These days, Sanders is the building's main visitor. He offers tours through the Architectural Heritage Foundation and advocates for the auditorium's revival.
"We believe it needs to be an entertainment facility again," he said. "A multi purpose facility, used for emerging events."
Sanders said he pictures something similar to a convention center. He estimates it will take about $100 million dollars to make that happen.
The building first opened in 1933 and Sanders said it needs to stay a place for entertainment.
"It needs to have multiple experiences taking place, simultaneously," he said. "It has enough space to do that."
It's a big space, with an even bigger chance to save a piece of history, like the mural dedicated to World War I hidden away on the top floor.
"It's really a beautiful space," Sanders said. "I didn't know about this space growing up in Worcester. I've done a lot of tours, talked with a lot of people and I'm always amazed at how many folks aren't aware that this exists"
Sanders said by saving the Worcester Memorial Auditorium and making the old new again, it will blend all that Worcester was and where Worcester is heading.
"The thought and investment that went into this building is really quite something," he said. "That's why we believe in bringing it back. We know it's going to take some time, but there's so much more to it that we think we can tell a story that will help preserve it."
Sanders said he’s more optimistic now than he’s been in the past about the buildings’ future. Some have suggested using it for housing, but he said the auditorium's layout is not made for it.