Thomas MacMillan Photo
Workers took down girders on Wednesday.
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.
Workers dismantled the stage itself on Thursday.
“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.
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