If you have lived in West County for any number of years, undoubtedly, you’ve had some occasion to experience Memorial Hall, whether for Pothole Pictures, the Hilltown Folk and Jazz concert series (aka Second Sunday Coffeehouse) put on by Gayle Olson (way back when), one of the many many past theater performances or more recently, to view one of the Metropolitan Opera Live Simulcasts. Whatever the event that brought you through the doors over the years, we all know that Memorial Hall has been a big part of what makes our community extraordinary. We also know that the hall could use a little TLC to serve our community through the next generations. To that end, a fundraising committee has stepped forward to make it happen.We have gotten 187,000 from the Massachusetts Cultural Council’s Cultural Facilities program and we have $150,000 from the town of Shelburne. The town also spent $110,000 to repair the elevator.  And we’ve raised other funds as well.

Where it will go:  The floor and seats will cost somewhere between $300-500,000. The green room will cost $87,000 more and there is another $500,000 or more work that should be done (sound, lights, accessibility, ceiling repair, etc.). We have been estimating the total project to be $1.2 million over 3 years, and we have raised about $450,000 of that so far.