An Amphitheater for the Linn Park

      I am excited about our new project.  The Festivals and Events Committee, which was formed through the MAPPING process a few months ago, is working on funding and building a new amphitheater on the land that is being given to the city by the Linn Foundation to be established as the Linn Park.  It seemed to us an amphitheater would be a wonderful addition to the park because it would provide many opportunities to bring residents of the community together--weekly music in the parks, special concerts, outdoor theater productions, movies in the park, celebrations, talent shows, awards ceremonies and many other uses we have not yet thought of.
      As we talked about the design of the amphitheater we decided it would be good to suggest the lines of  the old blacksmith shop that is currently on the Linn property but which is beyond repair and will be torn down soon.  We also thought it would be good to include a storage area in the back for lights, stage props, etc.  Bricks from the blacksmith shop could possibly be used to cover this storage area and the posts of the structure, although it has been suggested the old bricks may be too soft to reuse.  If so we may have to come up with another material for siding.  Consulting with others helped us to determine that a stage of 40' x 30' would accommodate most purposes for use, so we talked with Dan Smith, who provided us with an estimate of the cost of construction.  He then built a model of the amphitheater to help visualize the completed amphitheater.  Now we are in the process of determining ways to pay for the project.
     Of course, we believe that once people see the potential for the amphitheater there will be many donations towards the construction which we wholeheartedly welcome.  (Donations are tax-deductible.) To supplement these donations engraved bricks will be sold to be laid as a path through a garden that will be developed on the property.  Here are some ideas for engravings on the bricks: "In memory of", "In honor of", names of people or places, scripture verses, witty or wise sayings, historical events, "class of ___", business names and/or dates they were established--the list is practically endless.
     A booth will be set up at the Martinsville Fair to provide information on the project, so stop by to see Dan's model of the facility.  Bricks will also be available for purchase at that time.

     We would like to contact former residents of Martinsville to apprise them of this opportunity to help the community while also preserving history.  If you know anyone who would be interested, please send them this article, or email me their address and I will contact them.  Thanks for any help you can give us.