Eversource opens training and storm response center in old movie theater space
Crews train at the newly-opened Eversource training center on Monday, June 15. Photos by Nick Mossman
Manhole covers on an elevated surface for Eversource workers to simulate getting pulled in and out of underground utility stations. 
A classroom in the new Eversource facility. 
A lab where workers can train their skills with underground wires. 
The 39 Doty St. building now looks quite different from the old Flagship Cinemas. 
Eversource leaders and Police Chief Walter Correia stand around Cliff Williams, who cut the ribbon at the ceremony. 
The Eversource logo now sits on the old movie theater building.
Crews train at the newly-opened Eversource training center on Monday, June 15. Photos by Nick Mossman
Manhole covers on an elevated surface for Eversource workers to simulate getting pulled in and out of underground utility stations.
A classroom in the new Eversource facility.
A lab where workers can train their skills with underground wires.
The 39 Doty St. building now looks quite different from the old Flagship Cinemas.
Eversource leaders and Police Chief Walter Correia stand around Cliff Williams, who cut the ribbon at the ceremony.
The Eversource logo now sits on the old movie theater building.
In a space once filled with the crinkling sounds of popcorn and humming swoosh of soda machines, Eversource officials cut the ribbon to the electric utility company’s training and storm response center on Monday, June 15.
The 39 Doty St. property in West Wareham was home to the Flagship Cinemas movie theater before Eversource purchased the site in 2022. Since then, the site has been under construction, with Eversource remodeling the former theater, building classrooms and installing fieldwork simulators for its employees to train on.
"There were some locals here in town who were concerned about the local theater," said Eversource Executive Vice President of Corporate Relations and Sustainability Jim Hunt. "They're going to miss their popcorn, but they're going to get greater reliability for the efforts that we've done."
The 29,000 square foot Eversource facility is designed to help crews prepare for and respond to severe weather. Eversource Vice President for Safety and Training Cliff Williams said that having a facility like this is "critically important."
Williams noted that the electric grid is becoming increasingly complex as technology advances, making it important for employees to be properly trained to work on it.
Safety is the "highest operational priority" of Eversource, he said. "This is exactly what the company needs at this time."
Eversource leaders shared Williams' perspective on the importance of training.
"We are never going to be better as a team than how we train," Eversource Chief Operating Officer Paul Chodak said. "Training is the life blood of any operational organization."
In addition to training, the site will serve as a storm response center in the region.
According to Vice President of Electric Operations Doug Foley, Eversource can bring resources from other states if there's a major storm here.
"This facility is not just about training, but it's also about being in the communities so it can respond quicker and be more prepared for these storms and this type of weather that we've been seeing," Foley said.
Town Administrator Derek Sullivan and Eversource project leaders cited February's blizzard that dumped 30 inches of snow on Wareham as evidence of the town's need for public safety and emergency responsiveness.
During that storm, residents were left without power for days. Eversource leaders did not specify the extent to which the Wareham site would improve its response times.
Eversource Vice President for Emergency Preparedness Mark Baldwin said that the new site could oversee hundreds of crews as they respond to storms in the area. Baldwin said that there were 1,400 crews responding to February's blizzard in Southeast Massachusetts and Cape Cod.
Sullivan called the training center a "significant investment in Wareham." He said that when the movie theater went out of business, the town was "really concerned what would happen at this spot."
"Would it just stay derelict?" Sullivan said. "We don't need another marijuana operation in here, so this was a fantastic opportunity."
