PHOTOS: 20 years ago this month in Meriden: Demolition underway at Meriden Auction Rooms, local teacher rehearses for musical at Connecticut Cabaret Theatre

RJ file photo - Area students work on a sign they designed for the Beat the Street Community Center, March 1999. The new center is the former Silver City Boxing Club, which has expanded its mission of serving Meriden's youth beyond boxing. The painters are, from the left, Mary Heitzenrater and Michele Danby, both of Mercy High School, and in the rear, Aimee Butterfield.

RJ file photo - Crews trimming trees near power lines on Hanover Street in Meriden March 4, 1999.

RJ file photo - Brian Sullivan, a fourth grader at Nathan Hale School in Meriden, works on a science project in class. Sullivan wore his team jersey and painted his face. Behind him Kyle Buonocore as the number 21 painted on his face in honor of UConn's Ricky Moore, March 1999.

RJ file photo - A large trunk left on Hanover Street in Meriden after spring trimming near power lines, March 4, 1999.

RJ file photo - Bill Hinrichs, 94, of Meriden, walks a lap around the Hubbard Park pond March 7, 1999. He intends to walk 12 kilometers in a charity event in April.

RJ file photo - Krissy Voisine, a student at Wilcox Regional Technical High School in Meriden, drills a hole to run a thermostat wire to the heater in the basement of a house being built at 750 Center St. in Wallingford for Habitat for Humanity, March 1999.

RJ file photo -Sujey Pizarro of Meriden with her 1-year-old son Anthony. Pizzaro participates in teh WIC program and says it is very helpful for her baby, March 1999.

RJ file photo - SPring cleaning was the order of the day for Ruth Froggatt, of Curtis Street in Meriden, March 1999.

RJ file photo - The Meriden Auction Rooms building, as East Main Street fixture in Meriden for 35 years, came down March 23, 1999.

RJ file photo - Megan Prescott-Ezickson reacts after winning the Meriden spelling bee at Washington Middle School March 16, 1999.

RJ file photo - Julius Caesar, played by Kevin Klakowski, staggers down the steps of Meriden's City Hall during a rehearsal for a his death scene, March 17, 1999. Maloney High School students are staging the Shakespearean tragedy.

RJ file photo - The works of artist Jack Lardis - Expressionist portraits and nudes - on display at Gallery 53 in Meriden, March 1999.

RJ file photo - Mark Fontanella of Meriden is the owner of Connecticut Power and Sport in Wallingford, March 1999. The relatively snowless winter has hurt sales of snow-related products such as snowmobiles and snowblowers, he says.

RJ file photo - Caitlyn Fitzgerald, left, and Nicole Nowakowski, middle, reacts to getting a small electric shock after holding hands in a circle with Bill Brown, right, who demonstrated static conductivity, March 1999. The girls are fifth-graders at Our Lady of Mount Carmel School in Meriden.

RJ file photo - Holding a partially woven run on a loom, John Balayan, a rug dealer with Araklian Rugs in New Haven, explains the intricate art of rug making at the Meriden Public Library, March 1999.

RJ file photo - Wrecking crews tore apart the Meriden Auction Rooms building on East Main Street, eventually levelling the building March 22, 1999.

RJ file photo - Jennifer DuBois, 4, of Meriden, is handed a horseshoe crab and Ashley Chase, 2, right, of Middletown waits to get the crab during a program to teach children at the First Congregational Church in Meriden about creatures of the ocean, March 1999.

RJ file photo - Tom Pepe of Meriden hikes above a hillside in Meriden on land populated by coyotes, March 1999.

RJ file photo - Meriden teacher Jeanne Caillouette during rehearsal for Evita at the Connecticut Cabaret Theatre, March 1999.

RJ file photo - Water flows under the roadway and over the dam at Meriden's Black Pond dam, which will be repaired, partly with state money, March 1999.

RJ file photo - Meriden teacher Jeanne Caillouette during rehearsal for Evita at the Connecticut Cabaret Theatre, March 1999.

RJ file photo - Floyd Wright, WWYZ afternoon drive host, entertains the crowd gathered at Meriden Square for the St. Jude's fundraiser March 2, 1999.

RJ file photo - Meriden teacher Jeanne Caillouette, center, during rehearsal for Evita at the Connecticut Cabaret Theatre, March 1999.

RJ file photo - Steve Himel, a vendor for New Haven-based Parade of Novelties, shows of some UConn merchandise in Meriden, March 1999.

RJ file photo - Monica Lewinsky's book on sale at Ink Newstand in Meriden, March 6, 1999.

RJ file photo - Bonnie Rabe, the future principal of the Thomas A. Edison Middle School, at the construction site in Meriden March 2, 1999.

RJ file photo - Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman speaks to a group of senior citizens at the Max E. Muravnick Senior Center in Meriden about Social Security, Medicare and other topics, March 1999.

RJ file photo - Barbara Gay, a Middletown metaphysician, describes the therapeutic benefits of Reiki at a health fair at Catholic Family Services in Meriden, March 1999.

RJ file photo - Sister Mary Richards, left, and Mother Shaun Vergauwen talk to reporters at the Franciscan Life Center in Meriden March 25, 1999.

RJ file photo - Robert V. Coccagnia conducted the Meriden Symphony Orchestra for the last time March 6, 1999.

RJ file photo - Ben Bryda, of Meriden, found this huge black pearl in an oyster that cost him 65 cents, March 1999.

RJ file photo - Lauren Mandel, president of the Napier Co. listens to shareholders' questions during a meeting at the Cabin Restaurant in Meriden March 16, 1999.

RJ file photo - Melissa Lantz, a manager of photography at J.C. Penny in Meriden Square, March 1999. She got interested in photography while in high school.

Robert DeFelice, of Meriden, plays his trumpet with the Washington Park Drum Corp as they march up West Main Street in Meriden during the St. Patrick's Day Parade, March 13, 1999.

RJ file photo - Clark Doehr pours 291.5-degree maple syrup through a strainer/filter in his kitchen in Meriden, March 1999. The filter strains out impurities and "sand" from the syrup.

RJ file photo - Tim Doehr pours heated sap into a pot in the backyard of his parents' house in Meriden, March 1999.

RJ file photo - Dr. Sayed Johar Naqvi, a family physician at Hartford Hospital and president of the Jafaria Association of Connecticut, speaks in favor of a mosque in Meriden during a Zoning Board of Appeals meeting March 2, 1999. Many residents opposed plans for a mosque and Islamic educational center on Green Road.

RJ file photo - Herman Szawerda and daughter Susanne Service, both of Meriden, walk through Hubbard Park March 15, 1999.

March 25, 2019 10:10AM

Twenty years ago this month in Meriden, demolition was underway at Meriden Auction Rooms, a local teacher rehearsed for a musical at Connecticut Cabaret Theatre, and Thomas Edison Middle School was under construction.

See those stories and more from March 1999.

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PHOTOS: 20 years ago this month in Meriden: Demolition underway at Meriden Auction Rooms, local teacher rehearses for musical at Connecticut Cabaret Theatre

PHOTOS: 20 years ago this month in Meriden: Demolition underway at Meriden Auction Rooms, local teacher rehearses for musical at Connecticut Cabaret Theatre

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