Constructed as a monument to the veterans of World War I, the Worcester Memorial Auditorium once hosted sporting events, celebrations and performing arts events. As the use of the Auditorium declined, it became the site of storage for the City of Worcester and the site of the Worcester Juvenile Court until the opening of a new Courthouse in 2007. The Auditorium fronts the western edge of Lincoln Square and is bound by four streets: Grove Street, Institute Road, Harvard Street and Highland Street. The site slopes up from Salisbury to Harvard Street. The building is eligible for historic tax credits.
In 2016 the Worcester Memorial Auditorium was opened to the public for tours and special events which resulted in hundreds of people visiting the building. Due to the increased interest in the building, the City of Worcester has entered into an exclusivity agreement with Boston-based Architectural Heritage Foundation (AHF) to conduct a feasibility study for the building. Previous projects for the AHF include Quincy Market and Boston's Old City Hall. AHF will spend up to $250,000 of its own funding to complete its feasibility study and redevelopment plan.
Due to the impacts of the pandemic, the timeline for the closing on the sale to the Architectural Heritage Foundation has been extended until the end of 2022. In the fall of 2021, the Auditorium project was awarded $475,000 from MassDevelopment's Underutilized Properties Program for necessary work at the building to prepare it for redevelopment.
