Renovated Old Church Becomes Arts Center In Mechanicville
By Wendy Liberatore (Contact) --Gazette Reporter
"Arts Soothes the Soul "
By Wendy Liberatore (Contact) --Gazette Reporter
"Arts Soothes the Soul "
MECHANICVILLE — The grand hall in the Arts Center on the Hudson was silent. But the people, rimming the edges of this large sanctuary, communicated. With slow, sustained motion, they rocked back and forth on their feet and floated their arms toward the center. And in doing so, they created a vibrant, invisible stream of energy among them.
These movers, actors, singers and gymnasts have come from as far as Germany, France and Mexico to take this course in Spacial Dynamics — the practice of commanding a room and communicating without words.
Big plans
And for Jaimen McMillan, the founder of the Arts Center, this week-long workshop is one small part of his plan for the newly renovated center on South Main Street. His aim, in the once-condemned St. Luke’s Church, is to engage the community, and its surrounding towns, in all forms of artistic endeavors.
These movers, actors, singers and gymnasts have come from as far as Germany, France and Mexico to take this course in Spacial Dynamics — the practice of commanding a room and communicating without words.
Big plans
And for Jaimen McMillan, the founder of the Arts Center, this week-long workshop is one small part of his plan for the newly renovated center on South Main Street. His aim, in the once-condemned St. Luke’s Church, is to engage the community, and its surrounding towns, in all forms of artistic endeavors.
“The arts have a way of bringing people together,” said McMillan as he sat in the basement of the Arts Center. “It’s bigger than religion and politics.”
Last week, the center hosted “The Open Window,” a retelling of the story of Vedran Smailovic, the cellist of Sarajevo who spotlighted the 1992 genocide by performing at funerals and bombed-out buildings. The center staged a three-person play, “The Gospel of John,” on Good Friday. And this week, the center will welcome an international contingent to a weeklong workshop “Moving Through Trauma,” a course to help victims overcome the haunting effects of their ordeal.
Last December, when the center first opened, McMillan was seeking the attention of a local audience with a one-man rendering of “A Christmas Carol” with British actor Ashley Ramsden.
“It was a fantastic, unbelievable show — the accents, the facial expressions of the actor,” said Mechanicville Mayor Anthony Sylvester. “The Arts Center is a very good thing for Mechanicville.”
Good, he said, “because the arts soothe the soul.” And also because McMillan resurrected the dilapidated church that was abandoned and cordoned off with yellow tape for seven years. If he hadn’t, the 1890s stone structure, with its compromised roof and crumbing mortar, might have been razed. The center also put the building on the tax rolls for the first time in its history.
Injection of arts
McMillan, too, is pleased, feeling that the old mill town along the Hudson could use the boost and injection of beauty that comes from the arts.
“Mechanicville is underserved,” said McMillan. “We are dedicated to providing for the underserved.”
In addition to plays, concerts and workshops, McMillan plans dance concerts and lectures. He will also offer classes in circus arts, crafts for children as well as his own Spacial Dynamics, which he says helps everyone from the handicapped to the mentally ill. The Girl Scouts have used the hall for its International World Thinking Day. Several couples are planning weddings at the center. And it has a gallery for rotating art exhibitions — although nothing graces the walls thus far.
The setting, for all of these divergent events, is ideal. Walking through the main doors, one is greeted with a vast, open room. The vaulted ceiling provides acoustic perfection for the piano centered in the altar area. The new and glowing wide red oak board floors are smooth and springy, fine for movement classes. Stacked to the side are 400 cushioned chairs that can be configured in any way necessary. Colored beams of sunlight stream in from the arched stained-glass windows.
Downstairs, a large kitchen provides catered sustenance for those who are attending daylong workshops. With tables scattered about, workshop participants gather to not only eat, but relax, catch up on e-mail and talk. Small rooms, off the basement’s hall, provide space for more intimate meetings.
Getting the church to this level took more than a year of renovations. McMillan purchased the building in August of 2007 after an engineer deemed it structurally sound. The first thing McMillan did was replace the roof.
“We stripped it down to the wood and built it from there,” he said.
Once that was secure, the interior hanging ceiling panels were replaced and painted. The stone work was repointed — so that the massive boulders that make up the exterior would stay put. He also had the building rewired and updated. The old pipe organ had to be ripped out — it was infested with rats. The organ pipes and pump remain.
The basement was a nightmare of mold. After cleaning that out, workers tore down the walls that obscured the basement windows. McMillan replaced all the broken glass and made sloping window sills from the seats of the old pews. Natural light now floods the once-dark basement.
Outside, he dug trenches to direct water away from the building so the seepage, which compromised the building in years past, would not recur. Much of this work was done by McMillan himself, as well as his wife, Dorothea, who planted the circular gardens on the front lawn.
Finally, McMillan donated the unused pews and the old altar rail to the new Episcopal church on McBride Road in Halfmoon.
Costly project
McMillan, who hails from Michigan but spent much of his life in Germany competing in and teaching fencing, as well as honing Spacial Dynamics, says he has no idea how much he has spent on the project. “I wrote the checks, but I’m not sure how much I spent. It was a huge expense. But I could not imagine this beauty being torn down.”
And now that the building is ready, he is hoping to develop a coalition of supporters who will help sustain the building and its programs. Frequent events will get the word out. Currently, McMillan has scheduled about two activities a month. Eventually, he would like to see an event daily, with access to groups that use the adjacent Mechanicville Community Center and nearby Mechanicville Public Library.
“We want it to be the heart of Mechanicville’s social life,” said McMillan.
The mayor said he’d like that too.
“The Arts Center can be a draw,” said Sylvester. “People can come to a show, have something to eat in Mechanicville. It’s a gorgeous place that is a good asset. The possibilities are nice for the city.”
Last week, the center hosted “The Open Window,” a retelling of the story of Vedran Smailovic, the cellist of Sarajevo who spotlighted the 1992 genocide by performing at funerals and bombed-out buildings. The center staged a three-person play, “The Gospel of John,” on Good Friday. And this week, the center will welcome an international contingent to a weeklong workshop “Moving Through Trauma,” a course to help victims overcome the haunting effects of their ordeal.
Last December, when the center first opened, McMillan was seeking the attention of a local audience with a one-man rendering of “A Christmas Carol” with British actor Ashley Ramsden.
“It was a fantastic, unbelievable show — the accents, the facial expressions of the actor,” said Mechanicville Mayor Anthony Sylvester. “The Arts Center is a very good thing for Mechanicville.”
Good, he said, “because the arts soothe the soul.” And also because McMillan resurrected the dilapidated church that was abandoned and cordoned off with yellow tape for seven years. If he hadn’t, the 1890s stone structure, with its compromised roof and crumbing mortar, might have been razed. The center also put the building on the tax rolls for the first time in its history.
Injection of arts
McMillan, too, is pleased, feeling that the old mill town along the Hudson could use the boost and injection of beauty that comes from the arts.
“Mechanicville is underserved,” said McMillan. “We are dedicated to providing for the underserved.”
In addition to plays, concerts and workshops, McMillan plans dance concerts and lectures. He will also offer classes in circus arts, crafts for children as well as his own Spacial Dynamics, which he says helps everyone from the handicapped to the mentally ill. The Girl Scouts have used the hall for its International World Thinking Day. Several couples are planning weddings at the center. And it has a gallery for rotating art exhibitions — although nothing graces the walls thus far.
The setting, for all of these divergent events, is ideal. Walking through the main doors, one is greeted with a vast, open room. The vaulted ceiling provides acoustic perfection for the piano centered in the altar area. The new and glowing wide red oak board floors are smooth and springy, fine for movement classes. Stacked to the side are 400 cushioned chairs that can be configured in any way necessary. Colored beams of sunlight stream in from the arched stained-glass windows.
Downstairs, a large kitchen provides catered sustenance for those who are attending daylong workshops. With tables scattered about, workshop participants gather to not only eat, but relax, catch up on e-mail and talk. Small rooms, off the basement’s hall, provide space for more intimate meetings.
Getting the church to this level took more than a year of renovations. McMillan purchased the building in August of 2007 after an engineer deemed it structurally sound. The first thing McMillan did was replace the roof.
“We stripped it down to the wood and built it from there,” he said.
Once that was secure, the interior hanging ceiling panels were replaced and painted. The stone work was repointed — so that the massive boulders that make up the exterior would stay put. He also had the building rewired and updated. The old pipe organ had to be ripped out — it was infested with rats. The organ pipes and pump remain.
The basement was a nightmare of mold. After cleaning that out, workers tore down the walls that obscured the basement windows. McMillan replaced all the broken glass and made sloping window sills from the seats of the old pews. Natural light now floods the once-dark basement.
Outside, he dug trenches to direct water away from the building so the seepage, which compromised the building in years past, would not recur. Much of this work was done by McMillan himself, as well as his wife, Dorothea, who planted the circular gardens on the front lawn.
Finally, McMillan donated the unused pews and the old altar rail to the new Episcopal church on McBride Road in Halfmoon.
Costly project
McMillan, who hails from Michigan but spent much of his life in Germany competing in and teaching fencing, as well as honing Spacial Dynamics, says he has no idea how much he has spent on the project. “I wrote the checks, but I’m not sure how much I spent. It was a huge expense. But I could not imagine this beauty being torn down.”
And now that the building is ready, he is hoping to develop a coalition of supporters who will help sustain the building and its programs. Frequent events will get the word out. Currently, McMillan has scheduled about two activities a month. Eventually, he would like to see an event daily, with access to groups that use the adjacent Mechanicville Community Center and nearby Mechanicville Public Library.
“We want it to be the heart of Mechanicville’s social life,” said McMillan.
The mayor said he’d like that too.
“The Arts Center can be a draw,” said Sylvester. “People can come to a show, have something to eat in Mechanicville. It’s a gorgeous place that is a good asset. The possibilities are nice for the city.”
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