Courtesy / Snow Pond Center for the Arts
A rendering shows the completed renovations at the Bowl in the Pines at the Snow Pond Center for the Arts, in Sidney.
August 25, 2020
Sidney amphitheater upgrade is sole New England winner in latest USDA loan awards
Photo / Maureen Milliken
The Bowl in the Pines ampitheater at Snow Pond Center for the arts, in Sidney, built in 1930, is undergoing a renovation that will allow larger audiences.
By Maureen Milliken
The renovation to the Bowl in the Pines amphitheater, at Snow Pond Center for the Arts in Sidney, is the only New England project among 44 in the U.S. to be awarded a 2020 Community Facilities Direct Loan by the U.S. Department of Agriculture this year.
The USDA announced Monday that $46 million in loans and grants were awarded to projects in 16 states. The New England Music Camp, part of Sidney's Snow Pond Center for the Arts, was awarded $475,000 as part of its $675,000 renovation to the historic amphitheater. The loan was initially announced by U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, in June.
The loan and grant program is for projects rural areas with populations of 20,000 or less and aims to help expand economic opportunity and create jobs. Among the projects the program supports are infrastructure improvements; high-speed internet access; business development; housing and community buildings, like schools and public safety centers.
“This investment supports arts and culture as well as economic development in central Maine," USDA Rural Development Maine State Director Timothy P. Hobbs said of the Snow Pond project in a news release.
USDA Rural Development Deputy Under Secretary Bette Brand said, “Rural America relies on safe, modern community facilities to ensure access to essential services such as education, health care and public safety. We know that when rural America thrives, all of America thrives.”
The money for the Bowl in the Pines project will help complete the renovation that began two years ago. The project has added parking, lighting and infrastructure that will support larger national acts on the outdoor stage on the shore of Messalonskee Lake. The work also includes expanding the seating capacity from 2,000 to 7,200.
"Completing these repairs will provide notable visibility as well as substantial economic benefits to the camp and the entire region," Monday's news release said. "The renovations and upgrades to the music camp will meet the needs of today and future needs for the community."
The 44 projects funded through this year's Community Facilities Direct Loan and Grant Program are expected to have an impact on nearly 400,000 rural residents. Projects that got the money this year are in Colorado, Georgia (nine projects), Kansas, Kentucky (three projects), Maine, North Carolina, Nevada, New York (six projects), Ohio (seven projects), Oklahoma, Pennsylvania (four projects), South Dakota (two projects), Texas, Tennessee, Virginia (four projects) and Wisconsin.
Bringing people, revenue to central Maine
The 90-year-old amphitheater has a 101-foot wide stage and is one of the largest permanent outdoor stages in the U.S. The final improvements include upgraded power and rigging needed for larger scale shows, new concession areas, expanded parking, ADA-compliant bathrooms, landscaping and permeable pavers installed in patio areas and in front of the 101-foot-wide stage.
Work also included widening the entrance, on Route 23, and adding up to 3,000 parking spaces. Snow Pond officials said they are also working with area property owners to provide parking and shuttles to events.
The work is slated to be completed this fall, and the upgrades will allow bigger-name shows to play at site. Beginning next year, the venue is expected to host eight to 10 ticketed events a year, along with 14 free concerts.
Once the work is complete, Snow Pond officials said that the venue will increase tourism and area visibility to the area, which is between Augusta and Waterville, in the Belgrade Lakes region. Long known for its free outdoor concerts during the New England Music Camp season, the expanded venue will host concerts and other events expected to draw audiences from beyond Maine.
Overall revenue to area communities, outside of Snow Pond, is initially estimated to be in the range of $525,000, increasing to $675,000 the first year shows are scheduled there, and ramping up to $1.2 million in three or four years.
Snow Pond Center for the Arts also got a USDA Community Facilities Loan two years ago to complete its 6,200-square-foot Learning & Innovation Center.
The nonprofit Snow Pond Center for the Arts, which began on the site in the 1930s at the New England Music Camp, in the past few years has added a music festival, a summer concert series, adult music camp, community music school, the after-school program and the arts academy, which opened as a charter high school four years ago.
Last year, the center was named to the National Institute of Rural Design, the first step toward a collaborative Kennebec County economic development foundation that officials at the center and in the region hope will come up with a cohesive strategy for the area. Snow Pond center Executive Director John Wiggin and Development Director Christa Johnson have said that the renovations and expansion to the Bowl in the Pines and the center itself are also part of that economic development push.
The effort will focus on the Belgrade Lakes Region — the towns of Sidney, Belgrade, Rome and Oakland that are roughly in between Augusta and Waterville — but will also radiate outward, particularly including Augusta.
Sidney and the Belgrade Lakes region
Image / Google Maps
The Snow Pond Center for the Arts is Sidney, in the Belgrade Lakes region.
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