Published: 1/1/2021 3:21:22 PM
Modified: 1/1/2021 3:21:09 PM
By STEVE PFARRER
Staff Writer
EASTHAMPTON — The pandemic may have shut down live performing arts and dissuaded some people from visiting arts venues that are open.
But CitySpace, the nonprofit group that manages the city’s Old Town Hall as an arts and community space, is inviting people to visit the Civil War-era building virtually as a reminder of what’s there — and what’s hopefully still to come.
An online, inside look at the building is now available at cityspaceeasthampton.org/tour/, offering a space-by-space look at a facility that has housed arts and cultural organizations for over a decade but offers the promise of more, especially a large theater/performance venue on the second floor.
The virtual tour includes informational text on the history of Old Town Hall, which was built in 1869 as a memorial to fallen Union troops from Easthampton and currently is home to a number of arts venues, such as Big Red Frame and the ECA (Easthampton City Arts) Gallery on the first floor.
A performance space on the first floor had been used for the last decade by the Flywheel Arts Collective, which in early December said it would have to vacate the venue because of lost income due to the pandemic.
Cameras on the virtual tour provide a 360-degree view, allowing visitors to get a good look in particular at the large public hall on the second floor, which has a stage and balcony and is envisioned as a future performance space, with perhaps 350 seats.
The tour includes architectural drawings of what the space may look like, following an estimated $6 million renovation.
The virtual tour is free, and the website also allows anyone to register for a contest to win $150 in gift certificates to restaurants in the city’s Main Street Historic District, including Antonio’s Pizza, Coco and the Cellar Bar, Galaxy, and the Silver Spoon.
More information is available at (413) 282-7705 and info@cityspaceeasthampton.org.
Steve Pfarrer can be reached at spfarrer@gazettenet.com.