NORTHAMPTON – With Governor Charlie Baker’s announcement that Massachusetts’ maximum communities can move on to the next phase of reopening starting Monday, theaters such as concert halls will reopen with a maximum capacity of 50% or 250 people, depending on the lowest amount.
The 50% capacity also applies to games rooms and recreational businesses such as ice rinks and gyms, such as museums, libraries and schools.
However, Valley Concert Halls does not plan to reopen soon, as developers and owners say there is still too much uncertainty about the duration and intensity of the pandemic, and how this may be just the renewal of the occasion calendar.
Debra J’Anthony, executive director of the Northampton Academy of Music, said the old theatre had temporarily scheduled occasions for the spring of 2021, in some cases exhibits that had already been cancelled due to the pandemic, but for now, the Academy adheres to the performances. .
“We didn’t plan to re-examine our show until December, and (Baker’s announcement) didn’t replace that,” J’Anthony said.
He noted that under the new state guidelines, the Academy, which can accommodate more than 800 more people, would be limited to another 250 people internally. Considering the artists and staff, he said, “You may be for an audience of just over two hundred other people,” that’s not enough to be financially viable.
“In addition, we will have to get involved in everyone’s safety, the threat to customers, artists and our staff,” J’Anthony said.
The Academy has broadcast a series of empty theater exhibitions in recent months, adding one through whately’s musician and children’s composer Mister G. Two Valley Voices Story Slam sessions will also be broadcast from the level on October 8 and November 5.
Jim Neill, chief marketing officer of Iron Horse Entertainment Group (IHEG) of Northampton, who manages The Iron Horse Music Hall, Pearl Street Nightclub, Mountain Park and Calvin Theatre, says IHEG is waiting and verifying new state guidelines.
“The music industry stopped in March, and it will take more than a soft green or even yellow to get back on track,” he wrote in an email. “Most of our concert program is the result of an elaborate national reserve and ecosystem travel.
“Northampton is just a date on a band’s tour. Add state and city-only COVID regulations, which we’ve noticed can be replaced very quickly, and it becomes transparent that it will be a confusing company.
“It’s encouraging to see action taken,” Neill added, “but we’ll be careful and plan the procedure when the time comes. “
Also in Northampton, Jim Olsen, director of Signature Sounds and The Parlor Room, said doubts surrounding the pandemic continued to cause renewed in-person programming to make equally dubious and problematic plans, that the initial concentration may be alone on local programming and regional musicians. .
In August, for example, Signature Sounds hosted a series of small outdoor acoustic displays at Black Birch Vineyard in Hatfield for a hundred spectators, when Baker limited outdoor meetings to 50 other people due to a buildup of COVID cases.
This left Signature struggling to load more and reconfigured for only 50 people, Olsen said.
Referring to The Parlor Room, he said: “We are in a kind of waiting pattern. We do an ebook two, 3 or 4 months, and even though we’ve only done it with two or three weeks (before), there’s a threat that the regulations will replace and the whole thing will explode. “
In addition, 50% of the living room capacity would be about 40 more people, and Olsen said that even if the state did not replace fundamental regulations again, it is not known how many artists would be willing to play for one of these. length, or how many other people would be willing to attend a show.
The living room “is a pretty small space, and I don’t know how comfortable it would be to have other people there (during the pandemic),” he said. “Is this the right thing to do?”
Olsen said it might be imaginable to exhibit some of the largest places in the region where his company produces music, such as the Shea Theatre in Montague, but even that remains uncertain.
“It’s a frustrating situation,” he says.
Meanwhile, Lori Divine, co-founder and owner of Gateway City Arts in Holyoke with her husband, Vitek Kruta, said the site will not reopen until a COVID-19 vaccine is available. “We don’t have to take any chances to get sick, whether we’re ourselves, our staff or the community. I think it’s completely premature,” he said.
Earlier this year, Gateway raised about $35,000 through GoFundMe to remain the center of the arts in “hibernation mode,” Divine said. But that money has been spent more commonly and the arts center is for additional donations to stay afloat.
“It’s a waiting game,” he said. We hold our breath. “
The governor’s announcement also affects entertainment venues.
At Hampshire Mall, Interskate North Skating
But Bill Hoefler, who runs any of the sites as president of Rinky Dink Inc. , said there are many paintings to be done before any of them can receive visitors again.
“We’ve been closed for six months and now we want to plan how to prepare,” Hoefler said.
The ice rink, which welcomes roller skaters and inline skaters and hosts birthdays and other events, has been part of the Mall’s Cafe Square food court since 1980.
Hoefler is already in the midst of renovations that included painting, cleaning and renovating the commercial and gaming space, and those who still want to finish before reopening.
Preventive maintenance of CVC formulas and cooling formula will also be required to close for six months, at the time of inventory arrival, activation of point-of-sale computers, and recruitment.
The 10,000-square-foot skating domain, however, will leave a lot of dominance even in part of the capacity. “It may not be a replacement for what we’ve already done,” Hoefler said.
The laser label was moved to its new area below Interskate on December 31, 2018, where a lost jungle and 4500-square-foot pyramid sand were created as a vesting room for players. Hoefler said up to 24 players will be able to enter in a while, allowing social esttachment and the rotation and disinfection of vests between uses.
Hoefler said he thought families, teens and academics would demand those entertainment options.
“There is a thirst for entertainment and activity,” Hoefler said. ” We can do everything we can to support other people and we will work with the fitness branch to make sure everything is in order. “
In early September, PINZ Bowl owner David Breen said the reopening of his game room, bowling alley and place to eat would mean the resumption of the ice rink and cinemas.
The mall’s executive director, Lynn Gray, said entertainment tenants, their workers, and the network would benefit from a reopening.
“We are very much with the latest announcement and look forward to supporting the activities of our entertainment operators in their reopening plans,” Gray said.
Gray added that he applauded the precautions taken, adding the emphasis on fitness and protection through social estating, for the resumption of business, some starting next week.