With shovels in hand, smiling in the sunshine, community members, public officials and project organizers broke ground on a new, 2,000-seat music venue in Brown County.
The Maple Leaf Performing Arts Center is expected to open next summer, off State Road 46 in the area of the Hawthorne Drive stoplight.
Concert promoter Live Nation is expected to book 26 shows a year at the venue, with a yet-to-be-hired executive director booking the rest.
Maple Leaf Management Group co-president Barry Herring stood at the podium Tuesday morning. “Can we just savor this moment for a minute? It’s wonderful,” he said.
More than a year ago, Herring, one of the originators of the project and owner of the nearby Brown County Inn, stood in front of the community at the Brown County Playhouse to announce the plan for the $12.5 million, government-funded entertainment venue. Brown County’s innkeepers tax has been pledged to cover the mortgage payments if not enough revenue is brought in from ticket sales and other fees.
“To actually stand here and look at all of you beautiful people supporting this project and seeing the bulldozers rolling is a day I never thought I would see, so thank you all,” Herring said.
A crowd wearing hard hats and holding shovels — some brought their own — gathered around a tent in the field near the Brown County YMCA to hear remarks from project organizers. The presidents of the Brown County Commissioners and Brown County Council, Sen. Eric Koch, R-Bedford, Rep. Chris May, R-Bedford, and the vice president of the State Bank of Lizton also spoke.
The State Bank of Lizton loaned the county $12.5 million to build the venue on Snyder Farm land.
Brandt Construction Inc. holds the $7,808,833 contract to construct the building and pave a new road to get to it, Maple Leaf Boulevard.
The sounds of bulldozers moving dirt could be heard throughout the ceremony.
“This is going to be remarkable. This is going to be one of those things that is going to have an inter-generational impact,” Koch said.
“There will be children, grandchildren and, I am sure, great-grandchildren of those here today who are going to be enjoying this venue for many years to come.”
May pledged that he and his family will be one of the first 2,000 people to catch a show. He fondly remembered attending concerts at the Little Nashville Opry as a child with his grandparents. The Opry, which stood about a mile from this building site, burned at the hands of an arsonist in late 2009.
“I can’t emphasize the fact that you’re truly bringing back the meaning I think everyone within the region and within the state of Indiana truly know Nashville and Brown County for. I am tremendously excited for you all,” May said.
“This new venue will be a key factor in this community and surrounding communities, encouraging the continuing tourism and economic growth of this area.”
Commissioners President Dave Anderson applauded the Brown County “movers and shakers” who were able to get the project off the ground, saying his hat was off to them.
“No process was missed, not one thing was overlooked and I looked closely. It was done right,” he said.
Council President Keith Baker said this new venue will send a “message to all of Indiana that we will continue to be different, continue to lead, continue to offer them a destination full of interesting experiences set in a backdrop of nature.”
Herring brought up the members of the Maple Leaf Management Group and Building Corp. to be recognized. Both groups of volunteers have been managing different parts of the construction process.
“When I closed my presentation at the Playhouse many moons again, my final comment was, ‘Look what 12 people can do when you put your mind to it.’ Let me now update that: Look what we’re doing,” Herring said.
Read more in the July 18 Brown County Democrat.
ABOUT THIS PROJECT
What: Maple Leaf Performing Arts Center
Where: Off State Road 46 in the area of Hawthorne Drive, Nashville. A new road, Maple Leaf Boulevard, will be built to reach it.
Cost: $12.5 million, funded by ticket sales and other fees, with Brown County innkeepers tax revenue as a backup source
Size: About 2,000 seats, built on 13 acres of Snyder Farm land
Projected opening: Summer 2019
Other features: A beer garden, a family/art garden, concession sales, meeting space for groups
More information: browncounty.com/mapleleaf
