U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer stopped by Catskill Wednesday afternoon to tour the Lumberyard Contemporary Performing Arts Center. Schumer predicts the Center will be a major hub for world-class theater.
"And this is an amazing space..." Arriving at the three-building Lumberyard campus along the Catskill Creek on Water Street, Schumer says he immediately understood something big is about to take place. "It's one of the most exciting projects that I have seen. Because the benefits that will accrue to Catskill, to Greene County and to the whole northern Hudson Valley will be terrific."
When artists comprising the Washington, D.C.-based "American Dance Institute" decided to relocate to New York, Lumberyard Executive and Artistic Director Adrienne Willis says they originally looked at a parcel of land in Hudson. "And then we came across and our realtor showed us this property. When we saw it we knew it was perfect, a perfect space because of the theater, but that also Catskill was really the prefect partner for us in this because it's a town that's also rebuilding, and we're rebuilding, and it's uncertain economic times for both the arts and for Catskill, and together as partners we can leverage resources to make each other stronger."
The multi-building facility once was a waterfront lumberyard. It was obtained for $1.2 million and will feature a theatre along with artist accommodations and amenities. Willis says work will get under way in about a month. The total cost of rehabbing Lumberyard is around $20 million. "It'll be a 5500-square foot theatre that can recreate any stage in New York City. We're building a space where artists can come and put the final touches on work before it premieres in New York, and we will give them their out-of-town premiere. So our opening season at Lumberyard, it will be a season filled with out-of-town premieres that everyone across the region can come and see before they see it in New York City."
The first summer season will be held in 2018, using spaces in nearby places, like Hudson. Willis notes there is a spot on-site by the creek deep enough for a ferry to turn around. She envisions a dock being built and a ferry running between Lumberyard and the Hudson train station. "You could have someone like Wendy Whalen, you could have some great choreographers, Michelle Dorrance, David Neumann, Kyle Abraham, working here in Catskill, honing their next masterpiece. That is manna from heaven.”
Schumer foresees new restaurants, new housing and many other enterprises as Lumberyard goes into full-scale operation the spring of 2019. "Brooklyn Academy of Music, an institution I've worked with and supported, and is only a few blocks from my house, where I live, has just partnered to have an established residency partner here, I'm sure this will be the first of many. Lumberyard closed on a $5 million loan this summer. But they shouldn't have to rely on loans alone. This project has so many benefits, what the economists would call 'externalities,' which means benefits way beyond the money that actually comes in here. It will bring all kinds of money and jobs and growth elsewhere. So I wanna tell Adrienne and the Lumberyard Performing Arts center that they have my complete support, and I'll help them pursue all different kinds of federal grants, they've gotten some already and they're going to apply for many more. And I will go to bat and use the clout I have in Washington to make it happen."
Willis says partnerships are key to Lumberyard's success. "There's never been a time when they've been more important, and we need partnerships from the federal level, state level, local level, corporations, individuals, everybody, to make this happen, because everybody's gonna reap the benefits from what we're building."
LUMBERYARD BLOG
https://vimeo.com/183312261">End of Summer Shindig at Lumberyard
