One of central Connecticut’s premiere outdoor performance centers is undergoing a nearly $2.8 million upgrade to improve show-goers’ experiences and possibly help it land bigger acts in the future.
The Simsbury Meadows Performing Arts Center spent years preparing for what it calls “The Next Act,” a 3,000-square-foot expansion of its backstage area to provide private dressing rooms, restrooms and rehearsal space for performers, along with separate indoor restrooms for the public as well as equipment storage space and office room.
Modernizing and expanding the 20-year-old center will help it book more shows and performances, according to organizers, and will reduce operating costs since the long line of rented portable toilets and trailers can be reduced or eliminated.
“This idea has been in the works for at least 10 years, and we’re excited about it. We’re doing it with a public-private partnership that’s really unique,” Town Manager Marc Nelson said Thursday.
The performing arts center is a rare hybrid: a nonprofit organization that operates on a sprawling town-owned property where showgoers bring folding chairs and occasionally portable tables or tents for enjoying shows on the lawn. For some shows, a reserved section is set up in the front with tables and chairs.
Each year the Meadows puts on local charity walks and races, benefit performances, crafts festivals and community celebrations. The most heavily attended nights are for concerts ranging from jazz to rock, largely with tribute bands but periodically drawing stars as big as Willie Nelson and the Beach Boys.
The 3.3-acre facility along Iron Horse Boulevard also hosts the Hartford Symphony Orchestra’s annual Talcott Mountain Music Festival, a summer series of concerts that draws spectators from other states.
But organizers have said they’re constrained by the shortage of backstage facilities to support the performances. At a groundbreaking for the expansion last week, Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz said she’s looking forward to higher ticket sales next season as a result.
“This project is not going to help just Simsbury, but the whole area,” Bysiewicz said. “It will help all the businesses, it’s going to help tourism and bring more people to our state. This is a project that really shows our values for creating community, (supporting) the arts and cultivating culture in this entire area. With these improvements this center is going to be able to attract a wider range of talent and shows.”
The $2,782,000 project is expected to be done before the start of the 2026 season. In addition to benefitting performers and their audiences, the work will add exterior restrooms available for users of Rotary Park, the nearby Farmington Canal Heritage Trail and nearby recreation areas.
Last year Simsbury residents voted 1,377-624 to approve spending about $900,000 in local funds, roughly matching the $900,000 state grant that the state Bond Commission authorized.
The remaining share of about $1 million was raised through private contributions.