Old Easthampton town hall restoration project underway for a new art space

EASTHAMPTON, MA. (WGGB/WSHM) - Efforts continue to restore the old Easthampton town hall’s second floor into a performance and community space. The project is currently in its second phase, and money is being raised to get it finished.

The old town hall on Main Street was the center of Easthampton’s community for nearly 150 years. Now, it will serve as a creative space.

“The kind of place where you would have live performances ranging from small like dance bands that sort of thing to larger activities and plays and likely ballet,” said Tautznik.

The project comes with a hefty price tag of over $8 million dollars, almost $5 million of it secured, with a fundraising campaign currently underway.

Michael Tautznik is on the board of directors for city space, a nonprofit that cares for and maintains the use of the building. He explained the project has been broken down into phases.

Phase One includes a half-million-dollar improvement to the building’s electrical, boilers and first-floor heating system that has been completed.

The next phase is underway, which includes an accessible entryway and an elevator.

“To provide handicap accessibility to the entire building from the basement to balcony, it’s about a $2.3-million-dollar project,” said Tautznik.

He told Western Mass News the space will benefit not only artists but the city as a whole.

“It would be a good economic development activity for the community, it will be good for downtown, it will bring more traffic into the community, and it will also help us maintain this beautiful historic building,” added Tautznik.

Organizers told us they hope to have this completed soon.

“I think it’s important that we think about getting this project done this year because it really will be a visible improvement to the building that we drive a capital campaign to complete the project,” said Tautznik.

For anyone interested in learning more about this project an information session and open house will be taking place here at the old town hall on March 30 in Easthampton.

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