Next year, that dream will be a reality.
After receiving a grant for $500,000 through the city of Benton, the commission has received the land rights and started the early phases of of development on a building to call its own. The annual concert, which features musician Terry Mike Jeffrey, will now function as a fundraiser for the building project.
“We’ve never had a place of our own,” commission president-elect Ann Riley said. “I just can’t wait. This is going to be a great place to have a stage, and to really let people know what we do.”
The Arts Commission plans several fundraisers throughout the year to pay for the rest of the construction, as well as building insurance, furniture, performance equipment and other needs. The July 9 concert will hopefully move the group closer to its $250,000 goal.
This will be Jeffrey’s seventh year performance at the concert. Also performing that night will be The Stamps Quartet and Glen D. Hardin.
“I travel a lot, and this is right here in my back yard,” Jeffrey said. “I look forward to it every year. It’s important to have a building where arts can be promoted. I am happy to see them get a place to do that.”
The commission received the $500,000 earlier this year from the federal government as a Community Development Block Grant.
“We support them,” Marshall County Judge-executive Mike Miller said. “What they are building is going to be a great addition to the county and good for the young people they work with as well.”
Construction on the 6,000 square-foot building, which will be located on Elm Street in Benton, is tentatively scheduled to begin in September. The building will hold a performance space, which will give the children’s chorus a place to play permanently and host other events, as well arts-related classes and shows. Riley says that she hopes construction will be finished by next spring.
Tickets for the concert are $25 and go on sale Monday and are available at the Marshall County Tourist Commission building in Benton. The concert will be held at 7 p.m. July 9 at Marshall County High School. For more information, call 270-703-0304.
Contact Corianne Egan, a Paducah Sun staff writer, at 270-575-8652.
“We’ve never had a place of our own. I just can’t wait. This is going to be a great place to have a stage, and to really let people know what we do.”
Ann Riley
Commission president-elect
Want to go?
Who: Marshall County Arts Commission fundraiser featuring Terry Mike Jeffrey
When: July 9 at 7 p.m.
Where: Marshall County High School
Tickets go on sale Monday at the Marshall County Tourist Commission, 93 Carrol Road in Benton. They are $25.
For more information call Ann Riley at 270-703-0304.
