NORTHAMPTON — Touring the construction site of the city’s new performance and events venue, Congressman Jim McGovern said Wednesday he hopes to secure federal money to help complete the project.
McGovern, D-Worcester, was joined by project architects and Dorothy Nemetz, a member of the Northampton Community Arts Trust board, as they toured the future arts space at 33 Hawley St.
Last fall, Secretary of Housing and Economic Development Jay Ash announced a $500,000 state grant to help the trust speed up construction on the building. The trust needs around $2 million to complete the second phase of construction, which doesn’t include the black box theater, according to Nemetz.
Nemetz said the trust hopes to open the performance space in September, as the building would be partially completed. To finish the entire project, including the black box theater, she said the trust is still looking for major donors in the community.
“We consider this project an economic driver for the city, and so does the city,” Nemetz said. “The mayor and Wayne Feiden and the City Council have all really been on board, both because Northampton drives so much of its energy as an arts center but also arts are an economic driver and this building is an economic driver.”
The trust hopes to turn the building into a performance and events venue to help solidify a space for the arts in the city. McGovern said he applauds the Pioneer Valley’s creative community and that the building will be a place to showcase the region’s work.
“This is going to be a great economic driver for Northampton. It will extend the downtown to Hawley Street here,” McGovern said. “I think a lot of the businesses in Northampton will benefit from this facility once it’s up and running. You’ll see more people going to restaurants and going to the shops here.”
McGovern said he had an “assignment” to help the trust come up with the rest of the money as he reaffirmed its potential benefit to economic development in Northampton.
“I have a few ideas of federal agencies that fund projects similar to this and we are going to see whether we can connect the people here with those agencies and maybe get the money they need to get the project home,” McGovern said. “There’s enough that’s done that when you walk in this building you don’t have to imagine the possibilities, you can see the possibilities.”
Also Wednesday, McGovern joined the nonprofit LifePath to tour Erving’s Meals on Wheels kitchen to show his support for the program in the wake of proposed Trump administration budget cuts to the Community Development Block Grant program, which provides partial funding for local Meals on Wheels programs.
Before his visit to Erving, McGovern visited Green River House in Greenfield, which provides rehabilitative vocational, social, and recreational programming to adults living with mental health challenges.