Archive: Around Town

On a warm day a crowd gathers around the band stand in the park to hear live music, have a picnic and be with friends and family.  If that sounds like a picture from times past, it is also part of Lansing's future.  The Lions club is currently raising money to build a band stand in Myers Park.

"The Lions have a great idea in the band stand, says Lansing Park Superintendent and Recreation Director Steve Colt.  "I know they've done an awful lot of work already.  Raising funds is not easy and sometimes it can take a while, but they've got a great start on it."  So far the Lions have two fund raising initiatives specifically targeted at the band stand.  People and businesses that give $250 or more toward the project will have their name, business name or a memorial name on a plaque to be placed on the completed building.  They are also selling a throw blanket with scenes from Lansing on it to raise money for the band stand.

The Lions have been working with the Parks Department to choose just the right spot and design for the building.  "We've got a site located down there, more in the center section of the park and articulated so that if we attract large crowds to a concert we'd be able to accommodate them easily," says Colt.  "There will be plenty of parking nearby.  And the backdrop as you look at the band stand and past it, you'll get that great backdrop of the lake and sunsets."

Colt found a design with the old fashioned look he wants yet with the durability to last for a long time.  The Lions, who originally hoped the project could be completed for $10,000 were concerned when he showed them a $40,000 building from a catalog he had.  But Colt says that was just for the convenience of finding pictures to look at so the Town and Lions could agree on a goal for a design.  "Now that we're in agreement on what it ought to look like," he says, "we ought to be able to find pricing that is going to be a lot easier to hit than that upper $38-$40 range.  I found some different options that were in the $12,000 to $15,000 range."

This is the look that the Parks Department and the Lions have agreed upon.  Park Superintendent Colt is looking for affordable alternatives that have this look and the capacity to hold a 20-30 piece concert band.

He is enthusiastic about the idea, which will greatly enhance the Parks Department's summer "Music in the Park" series of free concerts that will begin July 6th this year.  He wants to be sure that when the band stand is built that it is large enough to hold a concert band of 20 to 30 players.  "One of the nice things about our concerts is that they are pretty intimate, small groups -- you can get close to the band," he says.  "But it would be nice at least one time a year to have a big name act and really expose the place."  

He recalls that a few years ago the Sons of Pitches drew a crowd of 1000 to 1200 people, and anticipates that a big name concert could attract audience from as far away as Syracuse or Binghamton.  He says that would have to be funded by grants.

Lansing Throws are available at the Town Hall or through the Lions Club.  The Lions CLub has information about the Throw and how to purchase one or donate to the band stand on their web site.

"We're hoping for the band stand to be at least 16' x 30', 18' x 35'," says Colt, "something that's big enough to accommodate a real band, something like the Ithaca Concert Band that has maybe 20 or 30 pieces and get them underneath it.  Something that the school could use for concerts, or functions, weddings, anything.  It would be a specialty pavilion.  The main goal would be to have music functions in it, but you couldn't rule anything out."  He recalls that a few years ago the Sons of Pitches drew a crowd of 1000 to 1200 people.

Krom has been working with fellow Lions on the project for a couple of years.  "This was a pet project for me," she says.  "I wanted a project that was something that the Lions hadn't done.  My father was one of the funding members of the (Lansing) Lions club.  I remember when they built the first pavilion.  I remember how proud they were.  I felt the same way when we got the throws."

Colt and the Lions both hope to be able to build the band stand before this summer, but it will depend on how well the fund raising goes as well as finding an affordable band stand that meets the park's requirements.  "I hope we can get this thing done much sooner than later," says Colt.  "It would be a huge thing for the park to make this thing a reality."

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