Setting the Stage in Amherst!

May we present the Amherst Performance Shell

September 28, 2021 [Amherst, MA] – The Amherst Town Council unanimously approved the BID’s Design Proposal for a bandshell on the town common. The design presented was done by Naomi Darling and Ray K Mann – winners of the design competition in 2017 and awarded by the jury of 2 BID board members and members of the Select Board, Planning Board, Design Review Board, Historical Commission and Town Planning Department. Town Council decision in favor is the first positive forward step in a multi-step process. The desired site for the performance shell is on the town common next to Boltwood Ave, the placement recommended by legendary landscape architect Frederick Law Olmstead in the late 19th century.

Darling & Mann’s description of the structure: “The design takes shape as if from a single folded sheet of paper. Origami-folded structures – the back-and-forth pleating of a flat plane—yield excellent structural and acoustical characteristics. Constructed out of engineered timber, the warm-toned wood surface merges seamlessly with mast-like struts that cantilever the shell from the rear, leaving a gently curved stage of dark grey Ashfield stone open and unobstructed. LED up-lighting may be embedded in the stage and garden, while stage lighting & sound may be integrated into the bandshell structure.”