BELLEFONTE — Talleyrand Park will be getting an exciting new addition in the near future.
A group that wants to build a band shell in the park will be holding a private kickoff event on May 1 at Big Spring Spirits in Bellefonte.
Former Bellefonte mayor Tom Wilson is one of those spearheading the project.
“We got a grant from DCED (Department of Community and Economic Development),” Wilson said. “We’re building not just a little stage. … It’s going to be an acoustically designed performance center that the Nittany Valley Symphony will fit on.”
Planning and fundraising efforts initially began in 2020 for the Stage at Talleyrand, which would be located at the annex side of the park in the area of the Pelican’s SnoBalls building.
According to Wilson, it’s something that will fill a void in Bellefonte — and in Centre County in general.
“Bellefonte has a real long history of promoting the performing arts. They had the banjo bands and the Wetzler’s Marching Band back at the turn of the century. A lot of towns didn’t have (things like) it,” Wilson said.
While ground hasn’t been broken on the project, Wilson believes it won’t be long before things get moving.
“We’ve been working on this for a couple of years,” he said. “It was basically my idea and I built the committee with some people who I know that have worked on major fundraisers before who are friends of mine. We’ve got a diverse group on hand to work this thing out.”
Talleyrand Park lacks a venue like this, so Wilson believes that it will be a welcome addition to a community that continues to grow.
He noted there is a long way to go as far as the project is concerned.
“What is it we really want? How do we want it to look? These are all over the country and there are some really, really beautiful ones,” Wilson said.
An architect has been hired. Hoffman Leakey Architects, LLC will oversee the project.
A proper band shell, he said, could draw numerous bands, shows and acts to the park. It would be a community asset, he said.
The band shell would be home to the popular Talleyrand Park event Concerts in the Park. It would also likely be used during the Central PA Tasting Trail events, the Bellefonte Arts and Crafts Festival, the Historic Bellefonte Cruise, Victorian Christmas and numerous other events.
Wilson is hopeful that once constructed, the band shell will bring numerous groups to Bellefonte.
“We’ve done presentations to some groups, some individuals and met with all the stakeholders,” Wilson said. “The purpose of this stage is to give not only Bellefonte but Centre County a quality outdoor venue.”
But before any construction can begin, fundraising will have to take place.
“We’re hoping to raise $2.5 million to make this thing work,” Wilson said. “We’re about halfway there now. We think that with this grant underneath us, we’ll have some legs to go out and talk to people. This is a project that’s going to move forward We’ll give our best effort for the next year or so raising funds. Whatever we raise, that’s what we’ll build.”
Wilson said the DCED grant was a real “shot in the arm” for the group.
“We were trying to make sure that we didn’t have too many lulls and we stayed in touch and we stayed active just to keep the enthusiasm up. Once this happened, it was like, ‘OK, let’s go. Let’s get back on track here and start doing some fundraising,’” Wilson said.
He said the event on May 1 is by “invitation only.”
“It’s not an open event, but we’ll be doing some open events later on,” Wilson said. “This is more of a kickoff for the media.”
