Tarrytown’s Music Hall Purchases Long-Abandoned Veterans Memorial Building

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Caption: Tarrytown Music Hall Executive Director Björn Olsson and Theater manager Karina Ringeisen celebrate the purchase with board members, staff and randomly selected academy students and their parents. (Photo: Susan Nagib).

December 15, 2025

By W.B. King–

It’s been said that if one waits long enough, life comes full circle. This is the case for the vibrant Tarrytown Music Hall at 11 Main Street that recently celebrated its 140^th anniversary. Two blocks down the road stands the Veteran Memorial Building, a venue that shares a storied history but has been dormant for years.

Originally called The Hillcrest Theater, the building came to life in 1912 as a movie theater. “In 1925, Mr. Robert Goldblatt, the then owner of The Tarrytown Music Hall, acquired the Hillcrest Theater, presumably to squash the competition,” Karina Ringeisen, Music Hall theater director, told The Hudson Independent. The Friends of the Mozartina, the nonprofit organization that owns and operates the Tarrytown Music Hall, she explained, purchased the Veterans Memorial Building in early December.

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“He sold the theater to the veterans for $1 in the 1950s and it was their center of operations for several decades,” she recounted. “When the veterans passed on, we hoped the building would be returned to the Music Hall for the same $1, but it instead passed to Diamond Properties of Mt Kisco, which sold the building to the Music Hall for $1 plus some [extra] zeros.”

An Amazing Space

For businesses that operate west of Washington Street, such as Basque Tapas, little bs, Muddy Water and Main Street Pizza, Ringeisen and her husband Björn Olsson, Music Hall executive director, said the new theater will hopefully be a boon for all. “It’s an amazing, big open space that needs lots of work but we are so excited—it’s a great part of town,” Olsson exclaimed.

“The building will require about two million dollars of work until it is functional and operable,” Ringeisen added. “Once renovated, the space will primarily be used for our educational circus, dance and theater programs as well as for comedy, music, theater and film presentations, as well as receptions and community events.”

Noting that an undertaking such as this “takes a village,” the couple offered their esteemed thanks to the greater Tarrytown community, including Peter Fisch, a partner in the real estate department of the Manhattan-based Paul Weiss Law Firm. “Peter is a long-time Music Hall member and graciously helped the Music Hall acquire the building, providing his services pro bono,” Olsson continued. “We would also like to thank the Music Hall board, Music Hall staffers, especially Amissa Rybak and Sylviane Sherwin, for steadfastly pursuing the vision of an additional performing arts venue.”

With the purchase secured, Ringeisen noted that the multiple phase renovation plan is in the process of being developed. “The theater’s name is up for grabs to anyone who fancies financially supporting the purchase and renovations of the space. For now, the theater will be referred to as The Hillcrest Theater, formerly The Veteran’s Memorial Building,” she continued. “The Hillcrest Theater is being reunited with The Music Hall for the next chapter of its life. We hope it will become a vibrant addition to Tarrytown’s Main Street, keeping the nearby restaurants and shops alive and buzzing, and be a venue for expression by professionals and members of the community alike.”

For naming rights or to make a tax-deductible donation to the Hillcrest Theater, contact Amissa Rybak at members@tarrytownmusichall.org.

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