Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center

The Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center is an intimate performing arts center (250 seats) dedicated to presenting a full repertoire of cultural and performing arts while honoring the legacy of Connecticut’s iconic actress.

Originally opened in 1911 with a theatre on the upper two floors and a few town offices on the ground floor, the Center, then known only as Town Hall, had always been the center of cultural activity in Old Saybrook but by the mid-Sixties, the theatre had been converted into office space . Renovated and reopened in 2009, the Center, or the Kate as it is known, hosts more than 200 performances a year while also welcoming visitors to a small museum dedicated to Ms. Hepburn. This museum focuses on her life in Connecticut , particularly in Old Saybrook where her family had had a home since she was 4 years old. Ms. Hepburn retired to Old Saybrook in 1997 and died here in 2003, the same year the Town of Old Saybrook voted to restore the old Town Hall. It is now listed on the National Registry of Historic Places.