Court orders the building cleared of prior owner’s possessions

By Lloyd Garrison

Dan Hincks, who earlier this year bought the Greenwoods Theatre at a court ordered auction, is now armed with the necessary legal muscle to finally take full possession of the building.

However, it may require some heavy lifting. According to Peter Reynolds, Hincks’s lawyer, as many as three tractor-trailer trucks may be needed to haul away the sets, costumes, furniture and office materials belonging to Greenwood Associates, LLC, whose co-owner and manager is Maura Cavanaugh.

Cavanaugh, who has been doggedly fighting the sale, now faces a marshal with a court-approved “evictment order” requiring Greenwood Associates to clear everything out of the building within 15 days.

As Norfolk Now went to press, the marshal was preparing to serve the papers on Cavanaugh, who resides in Cornwall. Should she fail to comply, her possessions will be carted off for storage to be later sold at auction.

It is unlikely that Cavanaugh, (who could not be reached for this article), will pay for the removal. According to Reynolds, she has failed to respond to repeated phone messages and letters requesting her to clear out the property.

Should the theater’s contents be sold at auction, the proceeds will firstly go to cover haulage and storage costs, and any money remaining will go to Greenwoods Associates.

Just who will pay up front is unclear. The Town of Norfolk’s Public Works has executed only one evictment order, and First Selectman Sue Dyer vows that the town will steer clear of this one. “Did it once,” comments Dyer. “Won’t do it again.”

The delay in getting Greenwoods cleared out has forced Hincks to alter his plans for an inaugural performance he had hoped would take place in early October. “We will definitely not be ready by then,” says Hincks, who has renamed the theater, Infinity Hall. He has already signed up contractors who are ready to renovate the interior and repaint the exterior of the building, No alternative date for the first event has been set. “Rather than commit to a new date,” says Hincks, “We would rather under-promise and over-deliver.”