Exciting Times at Simsbury Meadows Performing Arts Center

April 23, 2013 These are exciting times for the 8 year old Simsbury Meadows Performing Arts Center. Developed as a permanent summer home for the Hartford Symphony, the PAC is preparing for its 8th season with exciting plans for the Hartford Symphony’s Talcott Mountain Music Festival, and much more.

 “There’s a lot of history behind the SMPAC that people should know”, said Robert (Bob) Hensley, the Chairman of the PAC Board, an appointed Board that currently reports to the Board of Selectmen in Simsbury. The history Hensley speaks of has to do with the last 10 years and the incredible Fourth of July concerts and other performances by the HSO, and groups like the Beach Boys, Frankie Vali and the Four Seasons, The Temptations, The Four Tops, Kansas, Allison Kraus, Earth, Wind and Fire, Cirque de la symphonie, Big Bad Voo Doo Daddy, Big Country and more. The history also has to do with challenging issues, too. While the HSO and the Talcott Mountain Music Festival is the reason for the PAC's existence, the leadership of the town wants to develop this wonderful “asset” in a way that doesn’t burden the tax payer.

 The Simsbury Meadows Performing Arts Center was built in 2005 under, First Selectman Tom Vincent. Vincent managed the facility from Town Hall just to get it through its first year or two. When current 1st Selectman Mary Glassman was elected in 2007, she asked a Task Force to recommend how to oversee the facility.

The Task Force recommended the creation of a PAC Board under the Board of Selectmen to manage the facility. David Ryan was appointed the Chairman and began the task of putting the board together, hiring a seasonal manager and establishing governance of the facility. Many good things were done and a number of important management procedures were put in place and completed. The PAC Board recognized the potential need to raise money for the facility and recommended that the Town create a 501c3 corporation.

Because promoters need the ability to cover costs and make a profit, things like ticketing procedures, concession agreements, and alcohol policies needed to be established. All of these initial documents were put together and approved during this time.

In 2012, Hensley was appointed Chairperson of the PAC Board. “ When I decided to not run for re-election on the Board of Selectman, I asked Mary Glassman if I could become involved with the SMPAC. I had been the Liason to the PAC Board while on the Board of Selectman and had a pretty good handle on the challenges. I had also been involved, initially, with the fund raising for Phase One of the facility-(phase I is what people see now). Mary was gracious enough to allow me to get involved. Because of the history and financials of the SMPAC, she and the Board of Selectman had three things they wanted us to do”, continued Hensley. “They asked that we help the Symphonys have a great season, create and produce a strong Septemberfest (a local fall event that is very popular with the citizens) and don’t lose any money!”. They also encourage us to get outside help.

I assured them that we would do all of that. And we did. We worked very hard, our manager, Tom Vincent (in his 3rd season now) helped the Symphony have a good experience, we had a wonderful Septemberfest, we produced a few smaller concerts locally, and yes, we made money.

The Board of Selectmen asked the PAC Board do more research and develop a marketing plan. The PAC Board sent out a request for proposal for a consultant to review the entire operation. Ultimately, we interviewed 3 candidates and hired Webb Management, from New York, to do the research project. The Webb team spent the entire spring, summer and fall researching the SMPAC, interviewing citizens, performers, the symphony and others. They attended events and compared the facility to others around the country. They compared the facility (surprisingly, the second largest-capacity of 10,000-in the state) with the other facilities in the area. It was very thorough. The lead research person, Duncan Webb, made the final presentation to the Board of Selectmen and they approved the project.

The complete report is available for the public on the SMPAC website (www.simsburymeadows.com). The core of the report states that the facility is a great asset and beautiful location, but it is under utilized, under staffed and under funded. Webb recommended that the facility be run by a separate and private organization which can make booking decisions quicker and be more flexible in fund raising. They put together a 6 year plan which provided a baseline for the PAC to reference.

So what now?

The PAC Board continues to manage the facility in “transition”. We have learned much from the Webb Report and we have now 3 years of consistent management. Our relationhip with the Hartford Symphony is the best it’s been, and we are working to promote the coming season. Carrie Hammond, the CEO and President of the Hartford Symphony has been in place long enough to provide the Symphony with consistency of management, too.

Tom Vincent is working with promoters to bring additional performances to the SMPAC, and we are working very hard to do a better job of promoting, publicizing and telling the world about the SMPAC. “I was shocked to find that the ‘footprint’ of the SMPAC is so small”, said Hensley. “If you go 5 miles down the road to Avon, people don’t even know it’s here. We take it for granted. But we need to let everyone know what’s going on here”. And, that is exactly what the PAC Board is trying to do!

PAC Board members include Cathy Barnard, Ross Herlands, Ferg Jensen, Mike Pendergast, Tim Pusch, and Ed Kubasek. The PAC Board representative from the Board of Selectmen is Sean Askam, and the Town Exec, Tom Cooke provides a doorway to the Town Hall. "These folks are great to work with”, Hensley says.

We are very excited about the Summer Concert Series through Premier Concerts and The Bushnell. Harry Connick, Jr. will be here June 22nd and Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell will be here July 16th. The two events together with the Talcott Mountain Music Festival with the Hartford Symphony Orchestra will bring incredible entertainment choices to the entire Farmington Valley. This will be a fun event and we are pleased to be able to accommodate this well know and popular entertainer.

The Future?

The future is BRIGHT, but challenging. The Simsbury Performing Arts Center, Inc Board includes David Ryan, Greg Piecuch, Gerry Toner, from Simsbury Culture, Parks and Recreation, and Bob Hensley at present. “We will expand this board to have 11 members. The Simsbury Performing Arts Center Inc. will be the organization that will run the PAC. It is the organization Webb Management refers to in its report. This will be the organization that will ultimately be the fund raising organization, too.

“We have a wealth of area arts culture, and we ask those who are interested in being involved to contact us”, says Dave Ryan, the current President of Simsbury Performing Arts Center, Inc..

These are exciting times for the Simsbury Performing Arts Center. There are many challenging times, but with the energy and hard work of the SMPAC Boards, both the current one and the one to be created, you just have to believe that the “Tanglewood of the Farmington Valley” will be a wonderful ‘jewel’ for entertainment and cultural enhancement for many years to come.