A rendering of the forthcoming outdoor stage at Forbes Library.
Photo credit: Forbes Library
NORTHAMPTON — Forbes Library will be breaking ground for its new outdoor performance stage by the end of March, with construction set to be completed in June and the stage ready for use by late summer.
The stage will support a wide variety of programs, including concerts, children’s programming and outdoor movies, extending the library’s long history of outdoor programming with a new resource.
“We’ve been doing programming outside for years — literally over 100 years. There [are] old black and white photos showing our grounds loaded with folks spilling across West Street — Route 66, a much smaller road back then — coming out to community sings, the thing at that time,” Library Director Lisa Downing told Reminder Publishing. “We kept up that tradition through the years. I’ve been at the library for a while and I’ve seen all kinds of things happen here including concerts, children’s programs, different fairs, you name it, we’ve done it.”
H|AI Architecture, based in Northampton, designed the accessible, open air, covered stage for the library’s west lawn.
Downing said with the Victorian aged library building, this new outdoor stage will help them have better outdoor infrastructure. For years, the library has had to run extension cords through the building to outdoor events with no outdoor outlets available.
“For any kind of staging or amplification, or summertime we do outdoor movies, its just a lot of schlepping of stuff and it makes it very difficult so this is going to give us the infrastructure to be able to do those things more easily and I think more effectively,” said Downing.
The stage will also provide some coverage for outdoor weather and is being outfitted with lighting so events can run into the evening. The stage will eventually also be capable of hosting outdoor showings of movies. The space will also be able to be utilized by community groups.
“I’m really excited about this and what it will do for our programming and also for the community because we have opened up indoor spaces and we have a couple rooms in the library for programs and when we’re not using it, we allow other groups to use it for book discussions, community gatherings, all the things,” said Downing. “So, we anticipate that the stage will also be a resource for groups who want to gather and have a place.”
The stage includes ramping to provide handicap access to the stage and viewing area. It will have electricity, lighting and a durable metal roof that will hold solar panels to power it. Campora Construction, based in Ludlow, will be building the $289,000 project.
Funding for the stage comes from American Rescue Plan Act funds distributed by the city of Northampton, a state earmark secured by state Sen. Jo Comerford (D-Northampton), a major gift by the Friends of Forbes Library and over $125,000 in donations. Additional funds are being raised to add audiovisual equipment and landscaping.
Downing said the addition to the library comes at a great time, as it is a reminder of the community center and gathering space a library serves as for a community. She said on top of all its offerings, the library is a great venue to gather with friends, neighbors or even meet new people.
An important part of the library’s services, and this new outdoor stage, is accessibility, Downing added, which is why much of the library’s programming ends up being intergenerational. These offerings for everyone reinforce why Forbes Library is a foundational piece of the Northampton community as the community space wants to offer something for everyone.
“Over the last several years [people have been] talking about an isolation epidemic where people are just feeling — even though we’re connected in theory so much through social media and technology — there are a lot of people feeling lonely,” Downing said. “It is so important that people have these opportunities to come together and explore. We really see it as an extension of our mission, which is to provide people access to information and to build community which I think from the very beginning, even before all this specific programming happened, the library was a place you could come get your questions answered, talk to people about various things and this just extends that to our programming.”
Downing added, “Whether it’s a lecture you’re coming to, or listening to music, or kids coming out for a puppet program or story time, all of these have an educational component and a lot of them have just an opportunity to have some fun and have some recreation with your community which I think is so, so valuable.”
Construction is expected to be completed in June and the stage will be ready for use later this summer.
“It’s a beautiful spot. Its right near downtown, it’s a good place inside and out so I think this is just going to extend that opportunity for people to come and spend time,” Downing said.
