Edmond Town Hall, probably the only town hall in Connecticut that doesn't bear the name of the town it serves, is named for Mary Hawley's maternal great grandfather, Judge William Edmond.

In her will, Miss Hawley created an endowment for the building, requiring that town offices use the building at no cost and that the elected Board of Managers oversee the building’s management and maintenance.

Construction began in 1929 and was completed in 1930. The Edmond Town Hall quickly became a center for Newtown community activity.  The Georgian brick colonial has approximately 27,000 square feet of public space that houses town offices, a movie theater, banquet hall, gymnasium and meeting rooms.  In addition to showing movies, the theater also features many local productions as well as performances by well known musicians.  The theater has been home to Lathrop School of Dance for nearly six decades, and at one time the hall even housed a bowling alley.

Much of the original endowment was used in the 1950s to build an addition to the brick structure. Presently, it costs approximately $7000 per week to operate the building, yet the endowment returns less than $50,000 per year. Other monies to maintain the Edmond Town Hall are derived from meeting room and gym rentals, plus proceeds from the movie theater. The town does not pay rent or for upkeep of the building, although since 2004, the Town of Newtown has kindly contributed $100,000 to $200,000 per year to help fill the financial gap. This is not enough.

The building has both town offices and community use rooms (a gymnasium, movie theater, kitchen and ballroom, plus various meeting rooms.) Both the building and theater, which are open 7 days a week from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., are presently maintained by a theater manager, a facilities manager, six part-employees and some student help.

The Board of Managers’ role is to maintain the budget and manage the building. The Mary Hawley Society’s primary goal is to raise funds for its restoration and refurbishing  -- so the building can again be self-sufficient, without cost to the town and its taxpayers.