‘New’ Market Hall at 20 is downtown’s jewel
When I look back at my best moments of 2017, those having to do with mind and spirit, many involve experiences at our own Market Hall.
The one under the now-accurate town clock.
Soaring and classical, whose beautiful picture filled five columns in the Jan. 2 Examiner, a building built for farmers in 1889, Market Hall is thriving, in the black, and now with an identity that means fewer and fewer people are asking: “Market Hall? Exactly where is that?”
I went to the Morrison lecture at the beginning of the year, with the eminent Cambridge economist Ha Joon Chang, whose talk was a mental stretch for me. He is an encyclopedic global thinker, but with an affable personality.
There were the plays brought here by Randy Read of New Stages, the “page on the stage” series, satisfying, often new, Canadian work, which, when read after one run-through by trained actors, transport the audience to settings through imagination. My fav is Rick Roberts of CBC TV when he comes.
Affordability? Randy Read’s series costs $100 for five plays. The Morrison lecture is free. There was the inspiring In From the Cold concert, my first-ever, presented by the group Carried Away, led by musicians John Hoffman, Sue Newman and Rob Fortin. A benefit, with talent and generosity.
For years, Folk under the Clock has delighted patrons with the best of folk music. Performers uniformly rave about this performance space with its intimate vibe, (from 220 to 320 seats), its sloping roof and first-class acoustics. We are talking Diana Krall, Great Big Sea and Serena Ryder.
Not to mention free downtown parking evenings at the King Street lot.
In October, there was the simulating, highly personal talk by a longstanding leftist hero of mine, Chris Hedges.
Chris Hedges to Peterborough: how can that be? He is a Pulitzer prizewinning journalist and writer, with a divinity degree from a Presbyterian seminary. Turns out, in a delicious revelation, Chris Hedges is a boyhood friend of Bill Kimball, who is a longtime cultural leader in Peterborough, now of Public Energy. The two of them had edited an underground paper in high school.
Bill Kimball figures largely in this story. To get it, I sought out my old teaching colleague from St Peter’s, Charlie Werger, and took him to coffee. It seems that 20 years ago, the Torontobased corporation that owned Peterborough Square and the attached Market Hall, was about to convert the hall into a bingo hall. (It had, in the ‘50s, been a badminton court).
Kimball formed a citizens’ committee, made up of Charlie, his spouse, Jane Werger, Rob Steinman and a few others. They managed to talk the corporation out of this plan, and got the City of Peterborough to buy Market Hall.
They formed a non-profit organization called Market Hall Performing Arts, got incorporated in 1998, and set about, first of all, to clean the place, paint, and clean washrooms. They pay rent to the city, receive a city grant of about $35,000 a year and can issue tax receipts for donations.
It became clear in 2010, that the hall needed major renovations and all three levels of government pitched in. A beautiful result.
Charlie has volunteered at Market Hall Performing Arts Inc. for 20 straight years. He is for me, a model of a person who found joy and meaning in his working life, and on retirement carried right on volunteering in the arts, loving the local and international fare.
“Oh, and a favorite place now for weddings” he smiles.
There is a dynamic general manager, Chad Hogan, a musician with business credentials, a good website and plans to expand Market Hall Presents: shows.
It is a jewel, and will be celebrated Friday with a Lights Up show ($20). Visit www.markethall.org