Already nearly $400,000 has been put into the building to make it useable as an arts center.
SPRINGFIELD – The Bing boom is back.
The once-popular Bing Theater has been transformed into a growing multi-use, nonprofit, community arts center at 716 Sumner Ave. in the Forest Park section of Springfield.
“We’ve built up our programming exponentially,” said Brian F. Hale, executive director of Bing Arts Center. “We have three to four times the programming of last year.”
With First Friday performances, art exhibits, music and film series, musical events and community gatherings, Bing Arts Center is “doing as much as we can” under current financial considerations, Hale said.
But he’s hoping current fund-raising efforts will help expand both the facility and what is offered there.
An application is in the works for a matching Massachusetts Cultural Facilities Fund grant of $100,000. Other grants will be sought in the next six to eight months.
Hale said a capital campaign will begin next year, and he hopes “positive funding news” from other sources will begin the campaign.
Funding has come from donations, memberships, program income and grants from sources like the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts and the Hampden Bank Charitable Foundation.
“Our intention has always been to get the theater section open,” Hale said.Though the main section of the theater is yet to be renovated, the building’s foyer, lobby and two storefronts have been renovated and now provide space for gallery and arts education, performances, screenings and meetings.
The front section of the building has been completely renovated with a new roof, new electrical and plumbing systems, new glass, insulation and new signs on the marquee’s façade. There’s a new portable public address system and new lighting. The restrooms have been completely refurbished and are now fully accessible.
The building began as Cossaboom’s Service Station in the 1930s. In 1950 the station was converted into the storefronts, lobby, restrooms and office space that now make up the front, single-story section of the building. The 900-seat auditorium was built on the back, and the building was named The Bing Theater after popular crooner and actor Bing Crosby.
The theater closed in 1999 when the City of Springfield took the building for nonpayment of taxes, and the building fell into disrepair.
In 2002, The “X” Main Street Corporation became the developer and began fund raising and project planning. The corporation purchased The Bing from the city in 2004.
Already nearly $400,000 has been put into the building to make it useable as an arts center with what Hale called “a cozy, club-like atmosphere.”But he said another $500,000 is needed to open the theater section for film screenings, musical performances and community organizations’ use.
He anticipates reconfiguring it to seat 350—“a more appropriate number”– with space reserved for a smaller cinema at the back.
Hale estimated that he receives four or five calls a week from musicians seeking dates to perform at The Bing. “There is a lot of talent out there looking for places to play,” he said. “We’re an accessible, friendly, community space” that is bringing talent to Springfield.
For more information, visit www.bingartscenter.org
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