HELP RESTORE HISTORIC CONCERT HALL IN NATICK!

WHAT'S GOING ON

The Friends of Concert Hall, in partnership with Natick Center Associates, is trying to raise the final $6,000 needed to launch an architectural feasibility study for restoring the long forgotten art and event space known as Concert Hall (built in 1874) on the 3rd floor of the Clark's Block building in Natick Center. This space, once restored, will serve as a beautiful venue for all kinds of events that will enhance the existing arts and events scene in Natick Center, promote community and bring more people to support the businesses in Natick Center and the Metrowest region. Please watch the short video above.

HISTORY

Built in 1874, Concert Hall was once the heart of Natick's social scene, hosting events such as galas, dances, concerts, graduations, plays, lectures from visiting dignitaries, exhibitions, town meetings, basketball games, wrestling and boxing matches. In the 1870s, it even hosted telephone demonstrations (an amazing new invention at the time), summer ice cream festivals, and 5 mile long indoor walking races on a sawdust track!

By the 1930s, Concert Hall was barely being used. After 1950, it was abandoned, fell into disrepair and later stripped of its three massive chandeliers, ornate stage area and rear balcony. It has been used as storage space ever since, sitting forgotten and in ruin for 75 years.

A new owner purchased the building in 2024 and has agreed to let the Friends of Concert Hall see if a restoration of the hall can prove feasible. Initial conversations with the owner, the Natick Community and Economic Development department, the project architect (Annum Architects from Boston) and a building code expert have yielded positive results that support the idea that a restoration of Concert Hall as an arts and events space is doable and would serve as an economic generator for downtown Natick and the Metrowest region. The Friends of Concert Hall would manage the space and have a long-term lease (99 years) for the hall.

OUR VISION AND NEXT STEP

The Friends of Concert Hall believe that Concert Hall can serve as a complement to the existing Natick Center and Metrowest arts scene and provide a stunning venue for events that we currently don’t have a space for in our area. Such events include ballroom dance, classical music/orchestra concerts (and other types of music), weddings, large galas, art exhibitions, culinary exhibitions, conferences and lectures. There are many performers and organizations in our area in need of such a large space.

Our next step is to launch a 2-3 month feasibility study with Annum Architects that will provide us with architectural planning concepts, engineering narrative reports, restoration/construction cost estimates and 3D visualizations. We will then have all of the information and plans we need to design a project that should be able to receive all town approvals and allow us to move forward with a full-scale restoration and fundraising effort.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

We have already raised about $24,000 in gifts and pledges (not including GoFundMe) towards the $29,100 cost of the feasibility study, leaving us with about $6,000 (adding in Go Fund Me fees) needed to launch this study. Please help us achieve our goal so that we can move forward with this restoration effort and make Concert Hall the heart of the Natick and Metrowest social scene once again. Thank you!