Meeting character.
Meeting comfort.
Meeting convenience.
Meeting community.
Meeting charm.
A century of evolving use
The Lyceum has long been a melting pot of people and ideas, a center for the community, and an engaging, strategic venue for scholars and policy experts. Built by the Archdiocese of Hartford in 1895-96 as a wholesome gathering place for young men, the building was named The Lyceum in Aristotle’s tradition of a public gathering place for learning. John J. Dwyer, a prominent Hartford architect, drew on ancient Greek and Roman styles to craft a building with a reading room, gymnasium, and a two-story auditorium.
In 1920, the Hartford Box Company purchased The Lyceum and manufactured boxes on the premises. For more than four decades after 1940, The Lyceum is fondly remembered as the Lithuanian American Citizens Club’s dance hall, community center, and, later, restaurant. As demographics of the neighborhood shifted again, the building housed a punk rock dance club, a hot air balloon manufacturer, a roller-skating business, the Connecticut Commission on the Arts, an advertising agency, and Hartford Areas Rally Together (HART).
In 2003, the Melville Charitable Trust renovated the building to serve as a home for conferences, educational programs, discussions, and the exchange of ideas aimed at creating stronger communities. The Lyceum has proudly welcomed Senators, Governors, Mayors, Gubernatorial Candidates and other Leaders, Esteemed Authors, Philanthropists, Donors, Artists, Houses of Worship, Celebrities, and we look forward to welcoming you to our venue.
The Lyceum is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The building has always been – and continues to be – a vibrant and active destination.
Today, as we welcome your private, for profit and non-profit organization to the Lyceum, you'll feel good knowing that your rental monies support the mission of Forge City Works.