If fund raising efforts are successful, a Lee-based non-profit concert production company will turn the Searles Castle into an arts-education and performance facility. They just have to raise $6 million to pay for it, and find a home for its current occupants.
Rave Review, which produces concerts that are performed at the castle already, intends to collaborate with other arts organizations in the Southern Berkshires to use the 80-room, 19th century castle. It will add tours of the castle to its spring programming.
However, Rave Reviews are not the only, and by far not the most visible, tenant at the castle. Stockbridge Chamber Concerts, the major presenter of music at the castle for twenty-five years, was unaware that they had made the offer and dismayed by the news. Elizabeth Hagenah, founder of SCC, was shocked. "They didn't inform us. This was a behind-the-scenes thing." In fact, a phone call from a reporter was the first that she had heard of the matter.
SCC began music concerts at the castle in the 1970's and more recently has shared the space with Rave Reviews, who produce the Jazz at the Castle Series. SCC's performers often include members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and offer elegant receptions in the ballroom of the castle. Hagenah did express confidence that the group would be successful in their fund-raising efforts.
Searles Castle was constructed between 1882 and 1886 for Mary Sherwood Hopkins, widow of one of the founders of the Central Pacific Railroad. It's oak carvings, marble statues, many turrets, fireplaces and columns cost $2.5 million at that time. It includes an atrium, a three-story auditorium and stage as well as a Greek Revival Temple with a reflecting pool and fountain. Marble came from Italy and Africa.
The castle has been home to the John Dewey Academy, a for-profit private boarding school since it was purchased by Thomas Bratter in the 1980's. The sale is contingent upon that school finding a suitable home.
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MCLA Announces Four Finalists for Next President
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts announced four finalists for the position of president, following a national search.
The finalists were selected by the MCLA Presidential Search Committee and will participate in on-campus visits scheduled for the weeks of April 6 and April 13.
The successful candidate will replace President James Birge, who is retiring at the end of the term.
The four finalists are David Jenemann, Michael J. Middleton, Sherri Givens Mylott, and Diana L. Rogers-Adkinson.
David Jenemann
David Jenemann is dean of the Patrick Leahy Honors College and professor of English and film and television studies at the University of Vermont, where he oversees recruitment, retention, curricular innovation, and advancement for an interdisciplinary college serving undergraduates from across the university, including UVM's campuswide Office of Fellowships, Opportunities, and Undergraduate Research.
An internationally recognized scholar, he has published three books and numerous articles, with research spanning intellectual and cultural history, mass media, and the intersection of sports and society.
He holds a doctor of philosophy from the University of Minnesota and completed the Institute for Management and Leadership in Education at Harvard Graduate School of Education.
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