Federal Funds Secured for Shakespeare-Style Amphitheater
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U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer visited Garrison last week to announce he had secured $1.5 million in federal funding to complete the expansion of a new open-air amphitheater overlooking the Hudson River for the Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival (HVSF).
For years, the non-profit HVSF has hosted at an iconic Theater Tent and was gifted a 98-acre property, formerly a golf course, in Philipstown to build a permanent home in 2019. The organization has been working to raise funds for the construction of a Shakespeare-style amphitheater.
Once completed, the new facility will be fully open to the public, offering ecologically restored native greenspace for recreation and additional spaces for local use such as blood drives, community meetings, and farmers markets.
In addition, the new project will enable the HVSF to expand its programming and offerings for new productions that were inhibited by the limitations of the existing space.
“For too long this long-desired project to create a permanent home for the Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival and beautiful new theater overlooking the scenic Hudson River faced a question: ‘To be or not to be?’ Well, I am here today to announce that I have just secured funding to say it is to be!” Schumer said.
The avant-garde theater will be the first purpose-built LEED Platinum certified theater in the country and was developed for the Hudson Valley by the architectural firm Studio Gang, who has designed worldwide renowned projects such as the Richard Gilder Center at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, the Tour Montparnasse in Paris, France, and the new O’Hare Airport Global Terminal in Chicago, Illinois.
“Thanks to support from Majority Leader Schumer, Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival will soon break ground on our first ever permanent home in our 37-year history,” said HVSF Managing Director Kendra Ekelund. “This project would not be possible without Senator Schumer’s enduring leadership and support for the arts and culture sector, including the Save Our Stages Act, which helped arts organizations like ours weather the pandemic and emerge to better serve our audiences and communities. Support from the Senator through Community Project Funding affirms our ability to build not just a theater, but to design a campus that responsibly and sustainably engages with both the land and the community. This project will serve as a model of how arts and the public good can exist not just side-by-side, but in a mutually supportive relationship to one another.”
The HVSF was awarded $1.1 million through the Save Our Stages Act’s Shuttered Venue Operators Grant, which provided the organization with critical relief that helped them retain staff and survive the pandemic.
In May, Schumer announced that he helped secure a $10,000 federal grant for the HVSF to support the Tent Pole Commission, a new play development program that helps artists create new work.
“For decades, the Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival has been at the beating heart of Putnam County’s cultural and economic success. Thanks to community input, the work of the Philipstown Planning Board and Senator Schumer, we can now ensure that a vibrant HVSF continues to support our region through outstanding live performances, engaging education programs, and accessible community initiatives,” said Putnam County Legislator Nancy Montgomery.
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