May 21, 2009

Rotary Club, Community Foundation of St. Joseph County Partnership to Build New Performing Arts Pavilion at Potawatomi Park

At a press conference this morning, South Bend Mayor Stephen J. Luecke announced that a partnership among the Rotary Club of South Bend, the Community Foundation of St. Joseph County, the South Bend Parks and Recreation Department, and the City of South Bend will build a high-quality performing arts venue at the city’s most visited park this summer, creating a brand-new space for public arts. This represents the second phase of the Potawatomi Park “Fun for All” project, a $1.1 million collaboration that funded the universally accessible playground and paths added to Potawatomi Park last summer.

Funded by the Community Foundation’s ArtsEverywhere Initiative, the family of Christopher H. Wilson, private trusts at Wells Fargo Bank, and the Rotary Club, the more than $400,000 Chris Wilson Pavilion at Potawatomi Park will accommodate a wide range of arts performances including music, dance, and theater. Designed by James Childs Architects, this new space is a major improvement over the park’s current band shell, and includes:

• Larger size which can accommodate a 50+ member symphony
• Northern exposure, an improvement for audiences and performers
• Optimized acoustics
• Flexible infrastructure accommodates artists who bring their own lighting and amplification
• Backs up to Wall Street, with a curb cut, improving ease of access
• Flat floor for theater and dance as well as music
• Enlarged backstage includes storage and changing area space, sinks
• Improved, universally accessible seating configurations blend benches with grassy areas, and the structure’s design complements the historic picnic pavilion

“The Chris Wilson Pavilion is an important part of our effort to engage local citizens in the arts and showcase local talent at the same time,” says Rose Meissner, president of the Community Foundation. “This new space will provide a beautiful, accessible performing arts venue for artists from throughout our community.”

Todd Bruce, president-elect of the Rotary Club of South Bend, says, “Rotary has a history with Potawatomi Park: We built Kids Kingdom, and we have a broader history of service projects that benefit South Bend’s parks and schools. The Chris Wilson Pavilion project demonstrates the power of leadership and collaboration, and we’re proud to be a part of that. This project represents a win for South Bend in supporting the vitality of its parks, for the arts community in providing an excellent venue for performances, and for the thousands of residents who will enjoy the facility each year.”

“Potawatomi Park is the most-visited park in the region, and I’m particularly proud of this continued effort to make it fully accessible to all members of our community. This public-private partnership will continue to enhance the ‘fun for all’ commitment at Potawatomi Park,” says South Bend Mayor Stephen J. Luecke. “I want to commend the Community Foundation, the Rotary Club, and our South Bend Parks and Recreation Department for working together toward this great goal. I’m looking forward to its opening this fall.”

The new pavilion is named after Chris Wilson, an accomplished classical guitarist, who died along with his father, Dr. James M. Wilson, in a tragic car crash in 2004.  Born and raised in South Bend, Chris was living in Bend, Oregon as a performer and music teacher at the time of his death.  His family decided the Chris Wilson Pavilion was a perfect way to honor his memory.

The South Bend Parks and Recreation Department, which hosts the popular Potawatomi Park outdoor summer concert series—which will be held in the old band shell this summer while construction is underway—will program the new performance space. The Parks Department, the Community Foundation, and the Rotary Club will work together to plan an inaugural series of exciting and varied performances for the summer of 2010.

The goal is to expand and diversify current performance offerings while keeping the focus on free, family-friendly entertainment.

The project’s general contractor is the Robert Henry Corporation, and Foegley Landscape Inc. will provide landscaping, with labor assistance from the Rotary Club. Construction will begin immediately after Memorial Day weekend and will be completed by the end of August, with an opening ceremony scheduled for September.

Potawatomi Park, the city’s third oldest park, draws close to 500,000 visitors a year—more than any other park in the county. Its 62-acre site is home to more amenities than any other. They include:

• Potawatomi Zoo, the state’s oldest zoo, named one of the nation’s Top 20 family-friendly zoos
• The Muessel-Ellison and Ella Morris Botanical Conservatories and Potawatomi Greenhouses
• Kids Kingdom, which draws 100,000 children and their families each season
• Potawatomi Pool, used by 10,000 people annually
• The annual Kids Triathlon
• Potawatomi Band Shell, home to the free summer concert series
• Three pavilions with 30 picnic sites—the most active picnic rentals in the city
• Shared green space with neighboring Adams High School

The South Bend Rotary Club has operated continuously since 1914, gradually growing to its current membership of about 275. It continues to have among its members a diverse group of business people and community members who participate in a variety of service projects through Rotary. In the finest of Rotary traditions, an extraordinary number of talented and skilled persons from all walks of life have made presentations to the membership at regular weekly meetings.

Launched in 2004, the Community Foundation’s ArtsEverywhere Initiative celebrates and nurtures local arts talent, supporting arts organizations through grants and joint marketing efforts such as ArtsEverywhere magazine and ArtsEverywhere.com, an online arts event calendar and promotional Web site.