The Comedy Connection is located at 39 Warren Avenue in East Providence, Rhode Island, in a former Industrial Trust Company bank building constructed around 1920. The single-story brick building features a flat roof and a restrained classical design with Federal-style architectural details. It was built in the former Watchemoket Square area, once an important commercial center in East Providence. The building was identified in a 1976 Rhode Island historic preservation survey and later included in the city’s 2003 Waterfront Development District Plan.
The Industrial Trust Company was founded in Providence in 1886 by Samuel P. Colt, a businessman and nephew of firearms manufacturer Samuel Colt. The bank expanded throughout Rhode Island during the early twentieth century, eventually constructing its 26-story headquarters in downtown Providence in 1928. The East Providence branch at 39 Warren Avenue was part of this expansion. In 1954, Industrial Trust merged with Providence Union National Bank to form Industrial National Bank. Federal Reserve records from March 1954 identify 39 Warren Avenue as the bank’s East Providence branch. The institution eventually became part of Fleet Financial Group in 1982. The exact date the Warren Avenue branch closed has not been established.
By the late 1980s, the former bank had been converted into the Comedy Connection, which opened in 1988 according to a 2009 Providence Business News article. The club became a regular stop for touring comedians and local performers. One of the more unusual remnants of the building’s banking history is its original vault, which reportedly served as a backstage waiting area for comedians. In 2008, East Providence native and comedian Eric Hofer purchased the business after its previous owner shifted his attention toward opening a club in Boston. Hofer and his wife, Dianne, financed the purchase themselves and spent approximately $50,000 renovating the venue before resuming regular performances.
The building’s historic significance was recognized again in East Providence’s 2003 waterfront redevelopment plan, which specifically recommended preserving the former bank and retaining its use as an entertainment venue. Today, the Comedy Connection continues operating at 39 Warren Avenue, more than a century after the building was constructed. The former bank has now spent nearly four decades hosting comedy performances, a fairly unusual second career for a building originally designed to hold people’s money.
Continue with Google