Hidden in a corner against the woods lies a scene from ancient Greece behind the University of Connecticut campus. Tall white columns, rows upon rows of marble seats and a small stage placed high above, contrast dramatically against the modern city-like architecture of downtown Storrs, Conn.
The Alexander the Great Theater, a Greek amphitheater constructed by president and founder of the UConn Center for Greek Studies, Ilias Tomazos, has been in the works for over 20 years and has plans to open this fall.
The theater will highlight the arts, and feature shows and concerts, according to Tomazos. He said he hopes that Connecticut and the UConn community will be able to experience a part of Greek culture when visiting the theater.
The theater has been a dream of Tomazos’ since he first came to America from Rhodes, Greece, in the 1980s. As a foreign college student, Tomazos studied at the University of Hartford with hopes of earning a degree in electrical engineering that would then allow him to return to Rhodes to work. However, plans changed when Tomazos realized how much Connecticut was lacking in Greek culture. His first step to revitalize Greek culture was to create an organization for Greek students to gather and celebrate their culture.
“I wanted to bring Greek culture to Connecticut. I wanted to bring a piece of Greece here,” Tomazos said.
His next step was to bring Greek classes to UConn. He felt that UConn was the place to start a Greek program, as it was the state university. However, he was graduating soon and didn’t know if he should stay in the U.S. afterwards or return to Rhodes, where his family and job were waiting for him.
“People were telling me, ‘Ilias you have to stay. You have to keep building the Greek community here.’ They thought our projects were going to fall apart without me,” Tomazos said.
In the end, he decided to stay in the U.S. and has lived here ever since. Over the years he developed the Center for Greek Studies at UConn, as well as the Hellenic Society “Paideia.” Eventually, he began working on the development of the theater.
He first started working on the project in the early 2000s, after receiving a grant from the school to do so. After picking out the land located behind downtown Storrs, Tomazos discovered it was going to cost $25,000 to clear the land, as it was so overgrown. He could not afford this and felt defeated. However, it was his students who helped him gain his confidence back.
“I walked into class one day after I found out the cost of clearing the land and one of my students noticed this,” Tomazos said. “She asked, ‘Professor, what’s wrong?’ When I told her my news, and she got up, and flexing her muscles, she said, ‘We can help you clear the land. We can do it ourselves.’ And we did.”
After that, the student and Tomazos cleared the land, and from that point forward the project was completed by only Tomazos, his students and other helpers. No professional contractors were involved.
“We laid the marble down slab by slab, and over the years, so many students and friends have helped,” Tomazos said.
According to Tomazos, he, his students and helpers built pillars, laid down the steps, and built a stage. The stage is what makes this theater unique, according to Tomazos.
“This is the only Greek theater in America that has a stage. A proper Greek amphitheater has a stage. We wanted to make ours the correct way. The Greek way,” Tomazos said.
The Greek way is what Tomazos really tried to focus on when building the theater. He said this is why the theater took so long to complete.
“The Greek way means building something that is going to last thousands to millions of years. Something that will be here for people to enjoy for centuries. That is why we built the building with such thick walls, so it would stay standing,” Tomazos said.
Tomazos said he is planning a big grand opening this fall, with many prominent people in the Greek community planning on attending.
For more info on the opening, visit the amphitheater website.