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Plans are in the
works for a new bandshell in Mid’s Park on Lake Placid’s Main
Street.
Bill Billerman has
been working on the project since last fall with former mayor Jamie
Rogers and Deborah Fitts from the Lake Placid Sinfonietta.
Billerman organizes the Songs at
Mirror Lake music festival, held in Mid’s Park each summer, and says
the current bandshell is deteriorating and in need of an upgrade.
“It’s something that as I was going through the process of
presenting these concerts, the awareness rose of the limitations of
the current bandshell and how the structural integrity is failing.
So I started talking to Jamie about it. We started talking about –
let’s see what we can do to get people involved. And it just
started taking off from there.”
A new bandshell had
originally been planned several years ago when a series of
improvements to Mid’s Park took place.
Lake Placid engineer
Ivan Zdrahl, who did the 2005 site plan for Mid’s Park, and
architect Andrew Chary, have agreed to help design the new bandshell
at no cost. “They’re two really great professional people and we’re
lucky to have them helping us,” Billerman said.
Preliminary plans
call for replacing the bandshell with something a little larger,
with a better roof and enclosures to protect musicians from the
elements. “The design of the bandshell focuses on two things
– one is to improve the stage area for the Sinfonietta, because
they’re cramped,” Billerman said. “And to provide a better acoustic
presentation of their music.”
The post and beam
structure, which Billerman says fits in with other Main Street
buildings, will have a roof like the open end of a trumpet. “It’s
like a megaphone, its going to project the sound up into the park,”
he said.
Part of the project
includes extending a handicapped accessible path to the edge of the
lake.
Billerman said he’s
in the process of bringing the proposal to the appearance committee
and other groups to get their opinions. A variance will be needed
from the Adirondack Park Agency because its within the shoreline
setback of Mirror Lake.
The plans have also
been outlined to the village board. And Billerman plans to meet
with the Lake Placid-North Elba Joint Review Board. “We don’t need
their approval because it’s a village park,” he said. “But the
village board owns the property, so when we do get a final design
they’ll have to approve it.”
The cost of the
project isn’t known yet, but Billerman said he’s hoping to get the
help of volunteers and secure funds from local foundations.
“We’re hopeful we can get the community behind us, get some of the
local foundations to help us and some of the local contractors,”
Billerman said. “I’ve approached some and they’ve been willing to
help with the labor, so that would be good.”
While they’re not
seeking any municipal support, Billerman said they might ask for
in-kind services like help with site preparation and the
installation of electric service.
Organizers are hoping
to get their APA variance by late summer so site and foundation work
can take place in the fall. The new bandshell structure would be
built in the spring of next year.
The current Paul
White Memorial Bandshell was built in the late 1970’s. The
structure may have been remodeled once since then, Billerman said.
-Chris Knight, 5-12-09 |