Constitution Hall, an Ellsworth gathering space for conservatives opened last year by local businessman John Linnehan, is moving out of Maine Coast Mall and into Linnehan’s home.
Linnehan said Monday that he plans to keep the entity going as a personal project rather than a nonprofit corporation. He plans to be out of the former movie theater at the mall by the end of December.
“My lease is done at the end of the year,” he said.
Linnehan, 75, opened Constitution Hall next to Hannaford Supermarket at the mall in January 2022. At the time, he said his goal was to give pro-Constitution conservatives a place to network and to share ideas.
He said Monday that he created Constitution Hall as a nonprofit corporation, but that he never solicited donations or charged attendees for any of the events it held. He said that, moving forward, people are welcome to help with expenses such as food, but that otherwise he plans to fund it out of his own pocket.
By moving out of Maine Coast Mall, the group can function more informally, and he will save money by not having to rent the former movie theater. Linnehan did not say how much he pays in rent each month.
He stressed that Constitution Hall is not a commercial entity or a political party. He said he is changing the name of the group to Constitution Hall Patriots to emphasize its nature as a group of like-minded people, rather than as a venue. He said he plans to drop the group’s status as a nonprofit corporation.
“It’s not a business,” he said. “It’s an informal thing.”
When he hosts events after December, it will be at an indoor horseback riding arena that is attached to his house on Shore Road. He said Constitution Hall has had as many as 200 people attend speaking events at the mall, but that he can host crowds of similar size at his home.
If he hosts an event that generates a large turnout, he can use overflow parking at a nearby property, he said.
“When I first started this, I didn’t know where it would go,” Linnehan said. “I think it will be more effective when it’s a neighbor-to-neighbor, friend-to-friend sort of thing. I really believe [my home] is a better venue for me.”
Linnehan said that Constitution Hall never made any formal endorsements for political candidates, though he has done so personally. Linnehan himself has run several times for political office, both for Ellsworth City Council and for the state Legislature, but has never won an election.
Linnehan is an evangelical Christian who has expressed strong support for gun rights, Donald Trump, and other right wing candidates and causes. When he opened Constitution Hall, he posted a video online saying that he hoped to “turn Maine red” by having every Democrat voted out of office.
