Burlington Community Fund revitalizes popular performance venue
By Jennifer Eisenbart
Editor
After renovating the gazebo at Echo Park this spring, the Burlington Community Fund – which paid for the improvements – has gotten some strong reviews.
“Very well received,” said Joel Weis, president of the Burlington Community Fund.
Weis said the first event at the new gazebo just happened to fall on Memorial Day.
“It was just great to see it completed and immediately used by the community,” Weis said.
The Community Fund undertook three different features in its remodeling – resurfacing the concrete floor and replacing the old wooden handrails with ones made of galvanized steel, to name two.
“The old wooden ones were completely rotten, and weren’t even safe anymore,” said Weis.
The final change was opening up one side of the gazebo – to better accommodate public performances – and set up a terraced wall beneath the opening.
In the past, musical performers, particularly during the popular B-Town Sounds summer music series, were trapped behind the railing, which limited crowd interaction and obstructed views.
“There’s much better viewing,” Weis said. “That was Peter Scherrer’s idea.”
PSG Inc., formerly the Peter Scherrer Group, donated the time and planning for project. The renovations were paid for out of the Community Fund.
In the future, the Community Fund is looking at repainting the wood pillars and the flagpole on top of the gazebo.
In addition to the B-Town Sounds series, the gazebo hosts regular concerts by the Burlington Kiwanis Civic Band and the annual Memorial Day ceremony in addition to periodic weddings and celebrations. In July, the renovated gazebo hosted a tri-parish outdoor mass for Burlington’s Catholic community that attracted more than 500 people.
Community resource
The Burlington Community Fund receives proceeds from the operation of Veterans Terrace and, in turn, funnels that money back into the community in the form of grants.
Previous grants have gone to local schools, Love Inc., TLC, and the Women’s Resource Center, among others.
Among the larger projects funded by the Community Fund were replacement of a roof at Love Inc. and the purchase of a van used to shuttle clients of the Transitional Living Center.
Since September 2012, the Community Fund has issued grants to local organizations totaling more than $178,000 and has provided in-kind use of Veterans Terrace to local groups that is valued at more than $150,000, according to Weis.
To learn more about the Burlington Community Fund or begin a grant application, visit burlingtoncommunityfund.com.
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