The Johnsburg Town Board voted unanimously to approve leasing Tannery Pond Community Center to the group operating the facility. The center, with the lease, will continue to promote arts, education, and community events.
The venture began in April 2021, with the lease going into effect on January 1, 2024. Tannery Pond features an art gallery space, an auditorium, and various community rooms. It hosts exhibits, musicals, concerts, plays, and various other performing arts events year-round.
Their core values include being accessible and welcoming to all, pursuing excellence in all aspects of programming and operations, supporting creativity and experimentation, being respectful to audiences, and much more. For years, the town government has subsidized the building’s operation, maintenance, repairs, utilities, and capital expenses as well as a portion of its programming and administrative costs, totaling upwards of $100,000. Due to this, the center has raised funds and received grants to continue operations.
Tannery Pond Center Executive Director Candice Murray said to The Sun that large organizations, like the New York Council for the Arts, that award grants to performance venues want sponsoring groups to either own their facilities or have a long-term lease in place before they award any money.
Improving the quality of life in Johnsburg is a priority for Tannery Pond, and hopes to secure partnerships to be awarded more grants, and bring more people in. These include the Adirondack Folk School to teach people about traditional crafting techniques, and to host shows and performances presented by the Adirondack Center for the Arts and the Seagle Colony festival.
Tannery Pond Center (TPC), the 501C3 organization that manages Tannery Pond Community Center (TPCC), is excited to enter into a long-term lease with the Town of Johnsburg. We have worked toward this partnership since 2021 and are very excited to finalize the lease. It will give increased ability to fundraise and apply for grants which we were previously not eligible to receive. We are excited about what the future holds and are looking forward to being able to provide more programming and offerings to the community.
Tannery Pond
Tannery Pond will now be able to get more and better shows and concerts, as well as exhibits. These events will be more culturally enriching, with more school-aged kids activities planned in the mix.
The townspeople have 30 days to bring the issue to a public vote if they wish to overturn it, but there has been substantial support.
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