The Livery Theatre • Goderich Little Theatre
"We may not be BIG, but we're small"
Records indicate that the rear portion of The Livery was erected during the 1840's as a harness shop by Samuel Seegmuller, trader in hides and whiskey along the Huron Trail between Guelph and Goderich. By 1878 A. M. Polley had added two sections, also in Maitland River stone, to the front of the early shop to accommodate his livery stable business. After the turn of the century, when horses gave way to automobiles, the building became the first local car dealership. In 1974 it was transformed into a building centre.
By 1978 it was slated for demolition. Goderich Town Council, however, recognizing the historical importance of the building, forestalled the demolition, allowing time for a private citizen, interested in the preservation of historic buildings, to intervene with a down payment on the property.
A local architect recognized its potential as a theatre. Soon, a group of enthusiasts formed the Goderich Arts Foundation, dedicated to the recycling of The Livery as a focal point for promotion of the Arts. The Livery building was purchased by the Goderich Little Theatre (GLT), with the support of this community, several years later.
The Livery, as a non-profit corporation under the GLT, opened in 1983 as the community’s Arts Centre and has met with much success in the last two decades.
