Byrdstown will unveil a new community stage at the Byrdstown Activities Park during its upcoming Independence Day celebration.
Mayor Sam Gibson said the new facility is twice the size of the previous stage and includes dedicated dressing rooms and storage areas for performers. Gibson said the city utilized a state tourism grant to fund the construction, which has been underway since the beginning of the year.
“It’s a wonderful, it’s as, it’s as nice a stage as anyone’s got,” Gibson said. “This will be our first time to get to use it. Matter of fact, we, we put lights in on it this week, we turned… the first time yesterday was we flipped a switch and turned the lights on, and so we’ve just about got it 100% complete.”
Gibson said Amanda Mainord of Livingston wrote the grant application for the town. Gibson said a local Byrdstown company served as the contractor for the project.
“The grant has really, really come in handy and given us an opportunity to put together a, a really, really nice stage,” Gibson said. “And it, and it goes well with the rest of the area because we already had bathrooms, we already had a pavilion there that will seat probably 150 people underneath with lights, fans, and so forth.”
Gibson said the town still has a small amount of grant funding remaining. Gibson said these funds will be used to upgrade the sound equipment at the facility.
“This area is used throughout the year,” Gibson said. “I mean we’ve had senior pro-, junior and senior proms there, we have weddings there, we have birthday parties there, we’ve even had funerals there. So this, this area is used just tremendously and it’s just going to make it even much better for the people that do use it.”
Gibson said the stage is located at 116 West Main Street, directly across from Town Hall. Gibson said the facility is intended for public use and community gatherings rather than for-profit events.
“This will be the first time that the majority of the people have even seen it,” Gibson said. “And most people have seen it, you know, couple hundred feet, hundred yards from the road at a distance. So this will be the first time to actually see it with everything finished and up, up close and then with some activities taking place there.”
The stage will host its first performances during the two-day celebration starting Friday.
