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Show’s Over For Green Stage

by Thomas MacMillan | May 5, 2011 3:56 pm

(20) Comments | Commenting has been closed | E-mail the Author

Posted to: Parks, Downtown

Thomas MacMillan Photo After 34 years of service, it’s curtains for the stage on the New Haven Green.

The structure is in the process of being removed, and will be gone completely in just a couple of weeks, said Drew Days. He chairs the Committee of the Proprietors of the Common and Undivided Lands in New Haven, the body that’s in charge of the Green in downtown New Haven.

Since it was first put up in 1977 the square stage has stood at the north end of the Green, between Temple and Church Streets. Its storied planks have hosted performers from Mavis Staples to the latest iteration of The Temptations. But it has become a liability, and it’s time to get the hook.

That might mean less music on the Green this summer. Bruno Baggetta of Market New Haven said the organization’s summer concert series will shrink from three performances to two because of the added expense of renting a stage. The International Festival of Arts & Ideas, however, will return to the Green for its opening weekend, despite the lack of a stage, thanks to a sponsorship by First Niagara bank.

“The stage is very dangerous,” said Days, a Yale law professor and former solicitor general of the United States in the Clinton administration. “It’s not very strong. It can only support a little weight. We were concerned people would have an accident.”

Christy Hass, who’s in charge of public squares for the parks department, said the stage’s canvas roof blew off in November. She recently had her electricians remove the lights from the stage. “It’s reached the end of its useful life,” she said.

Aside from the safety risks, the stage is not big enough for the acts that use it during the Arts & Ideas festival, Days said. The festival has budgeted this year for putting up a temporary stage of its own.

The current stage was never meant to be permanent, Days said. It was meant to be put up and taken down as needed, but that proved to be more trouble than it was worth, he said. “It looked easier than it turned out to be.”

What’s more, the stage has become an “eyesore,” Days said. “It’s really something that detracts from the overall beauty of the Green.”

Baggetta said Market New Haven is organizing two concerts this summer on the Green, on July 16 and 23. That’s one less than the three that are normally held each summer, because Market New Haven has to pay to put up temporary stages for the shows, complete with lighting and sound capabilities. “It’s not cheap to do that,” Baggetta said.

Market New Haven is looking at its budget to find a way to go forward with the third concert, possibly by using a portable stage belonging to the parks department, he said.

Mary Lou Aleskie, executive director of the Arts & Ideas festival, said that the lack of a stage will not prevent the festival from holding opening weekend on the Green, with special headlining performer Yo-Yo Ma. That’s thanks in part to a $100,000 sponsorship from First Niagara bank, the Buffalo-based lender that just took over New Haven’s NewAlliance Bank. First Niagara will be the “marquee sponsor” for the festival’s opening weekend, Aleskie said.

Last year, due to budget cutbacks, the festival didn’t open its first weekend with performances on the Green, Aleskie said. The first weekend was held indoors instead, at various venues in the city.

“One of the things we care about is the democratization of the arts,” Aleskie said. Without a big public opening on the Green, the festival didn’t capture that sense of bringing art to all, she said.

Days said the proprietors of the Green may replace the stage some point in the future. They hired a consultant several years ago to explore the options and discovered “some things that looked attractive.” But even the least expensive of those is quite expensive, Days said. It will take some time to raise the necessary money.

Until then, performing on the Green will be a B.Y.O.S. affair.

Comments

posted by: Threefifths on May 5, 2011 4:51pm

Central Park and Chelsea Piers Sports & Entertainment Complex - New York City is better.This is were I go.

http://www.chelseapiers.com/

http://www.summerstage.org/

http://www.jazzmobile.org/events.asp

posted by: M Branch on May 5, 2011 5:55pm

A footnote: the stage was one of many structures built in area parks by Yale architecture students as their first-year building project. They switched to building houses around 1990.

posted by: smokeandmirrors on May 5, 2011 7:35pm

Maybe the mayor should give up his director of cultural affairs department ... and donate 1/2 of her salary to international festival of arts and ideas. Let them move into cultural affairs office which will loosen up some of their money for a new stage and keep on the support staff of that city office (you know the little guy). Perhaps they can hire Barbara Lamb (present director of cultural affairs) as support staff for a much less salary instead of putting out someone to pasture. Let them run all affairs dealing with what cultural affairs does. Yup, lets start subcontracting out certain department heads and get rid of some of these high paid directors with their glorious benefits and keep on the employees with the city that actually do the work with their little benefits.

posted by: State Taxpayer on May 5, 2011 9:02pm

The International Festival has budgeted for stage rental this year? We are all paying for that stage as taxpayers. The Festival has a line item in the State budget for a grant of over $750,000! How many mid-level employees is that, Mr. Malloy?

posted by: Swatty on May 6, 2011 9:20am

Where is all that good lumber going? Hopefully it’s not getting landfilled!!!

freecyle that stuff!

posted by: davec on May 6, 2011 9:39am

I believe this stage was put up every spring and taken down every fall up until several years ago. The opening of the article is a little misleading because the language makes it seem that it has been standing there since 1977 unchanged.
Either way, doesn’t matter. It’s a loss to the community because many people used it for impromptu practice and performance which is a good thing for a city to have. Death by a thousand cuts.
Were their people living under it?

posted by: anon on May 6, 2011 10:12am

For the first few years of its existence, it was taken down each year. It cost a lot to do this, and it was dangerous work, so it ended up being left in place. It has looked much worse for wear in the last few years. The challenge is to design a new stage, updated to meet the requirements of the larger and more technically complex shows that get staged there now, and one that can be dismantled safely and cost-effectively.

posted by: anon's cousin on May 6, 2011 10:50am

@anon - Why does New Haven need a new stage? How many times during the year is it actually used? I’m glad it’s gone - it was a freakin’ eyesore.

posted by: Atwater on May 6, 2011 11:38am

A new stage isn’t really needed. What would be nice are some benches and/or tables so more people can sit and enjoy the nice green space.

Or, we can have a nice sheep/goat pasture and return the green to one of its original uses. Also goats and sheep might save money on lawn mowing.

posted by: Pedro Soto on May 6, 2011 12:21pm

While it wasn’t the prettiest thing, it definitely was a useful fixture for the green. The green concerts are some of the best events that the city has!

I’m mixed about having it pepermanents temporary. On one hand it’s a fantastic structure to have on the green. On the other hand, the green looks great without it.

We’ve got tons of architects in this city, maybe the Proprietors or Town Green SSD might be interested in having a design contest to see if one could make a cost-effective but attractive stage?

posted by: george knight on May 6, 2011 2:18pm

Snaps to First Niagara for sponsoring the ongoing International Festival of Arts + Ideas performances on the Green. There is no better way to use this amazing civic space.

posted by: mr bill on May 6, 2011 4:12pm

Remember all the wailing when New Haven Savings and later New Alliance Bank went out. Great job you folks at First Niagra.

posted by: Kevin G. Ewing on May 6, 2011 4:36pm

I too will miss the stage but remember walking on it and being concerned about going through it in spots. It’s great that there is a stage there for all of the reasons we know. I also don’t mind when homeless people sleep on it. I’m sure that a way will be found to replace it. The concerts are too important to the city.

I’m glad that the loss of the stage is not preventing concerts on the green and am particularly grateful for First Niagara for sponsoring the opening night of the festival. This sponsorship not only makes it possible for Yo Yo Ma to perform for free on the green but the added shows on Sunday as well.

@State Taxpayer: That $750,000 investment brought in over $21,000,000 into the region in 2009. This year I expect it will bring in even more. Sounds like a smart investment to me. If our pensions were getting that kind of return we’d be in a very different place right now.

posted by: Kristin Hawkins on May 6, 2011 6:07pm

The stage was indeed designed and built by my Yale School of Architecture class as our first year building project! We welded the structure and built most of the components at Lighthouse Park. It was completed in the summer of 1983, not 1977 as the article states. So sad to see it go.

posted by: john on May 6, 2011 6:20pm

I was married on the green the year before the stage was built 1976 after the stage was built it became a great venue for nh entertainment
thanks for making the stage and letting us nh area people participae in a great place to see all the venues and entertainment for 34 years thanks again I hope another stage is possable in our future. jz

posted by: Lords and Vassals? on May 6, 2011 10:41pm

(Can someone tell me why 2 out of the 5 Proprietors of our New Haven Green live in Woodbridge? Isn’t that against by-laws?)

Personally I’m not comfortable with suburbanites doing the decision-making when it comes to New Haven’s Central Park. No matter how rich or well-connected they might be.

Anne Calabresi has obviously decided on less free public concerts on the Green in favor of her pet Arts & Ideas project? Me, I remember Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, and the Temptations…. The festivals high-brow, p/c performances,—not so much. (nothing against you, Yo-Yo Ma.)

TAKE BACK THE GREEN! The five ex-proprietors will be able to find some other means to maintain their self-importance.

posted by: Chris Wigren on May 9, 2011 4:35pm

When a replacement is found—and we really ought to have some facility for public events—I hope it has the same understatement and transparency of design. I know the stage presented some functional difficulties to users, particularly as technology changed, but its geometry was elegant and when not in use it could be stripped down to a bare frame so it didn’t interfere with the openness of the Green. It would be really unfortunate to block views into and out from the Green.

posted by: Alex on May 9, 2011 6:41pm

This is a great example of poor planning! They should have had annual evaluations of the stage and, when they realized it was going to need replacement, planned for a new one so there would be no discontinuity in having a stage on the Green. This is one of the key focal points in the city and to have it just be yanked away with no replacement seriously wounds the city’s culture.

posted by: elmcity69 on May 9, 2011 9:24pm

it was a total eyesore..good riddance. our green is beautiful, and this was a total distraction.

posted by: Chris Gray on May 11, 2011 2:14am

Long before this stage was built, we were enjoying concerts and other events on the New Haven Green. The first I recall was the local Golden Nectar Goodtime Band with Sally the Golden Nectarine with my sister and Dave Stroh and a full upper Green. They had previously performed at the Exit Coffeehouse under the First & Summerfield United Methodist Church, so we were already fans.

Later, John Baringer, as the first and only Arts Coordinator for the City, organized shows in a “shell”, a stage meant to be put up only in the summer and similar to a larger, permanent stage on Boston’s Esplanade. I never actually any shows on that stage but remember one afternoon hearing Rick Randall – later a New Haven Police officer – playing his heart out on the piano left on the stage all summer.

Before this stage, I saw Doc Watson and Lionel Hampton, among other luminaries, on the City’s portable stage and, of course, have performed on it myself at numerous May Day Celebrations before the City gave up on taking down and putting this stage up every year (always well after May 1).

One time I did speak to a crowd from that stage at an October Anti-Apartheid Rally and was rewarded to recognize our long absent Arts Coordinator John in the crowd but I won’t really miss it. I do miss the river I’ve never seen that ran through the Green but even land isn’t permanent in this world, as the Mississippi is proving today.

(My disabilities made typing this a two hour and more task.)

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