Dimmick Park Stage Committee Secures Project Funding

A local nonprofit organization's effort to construct a community stage in Hellertown's received a boost from Lower Saucon Township Council April 6, with the unanimously approved transfer of $5,000 from the Hellertown-Lower Saucon Chamber of Commerce's coffers to those of the Hellertown Enhancement Project.

The money was left over after the nonprofit Saucon Valley Millennium Committee disbanded some years ago, and the transfer will be made with the chamber's blessing, according to Township Manager Jack Cahalan.

A bandshell has always been part of the master plan for the park, Hellertown Enhancement Project (HEP) president Susan Ackermann told council.

As proof of that, she displayed a copy of the original 1937 master plan for the park, which was originally called "Hellertown Recreational Park."

Located on the exact spot where HEP members now hope to build a covered stage was a designated spot for a "concert stage," she pointed out.

A concrete bomb shelter with a flat roof is what currently occupies that site, and what currently serves as a stage when bands perform as part of HEP's Second Sunday Music in the Park concert series each summer, Ackermann explained.

"I'm hoping that perhaps that $5,000 can jumpstart our fundraising," she told council, adding that HEP's Dimmick Park Stage Committee recently received $7,000 from an anonymous donor toward the construction of a band shell.

The committee is also in the process of applying for grants, and having additional funds in its coffers will make that process easier, Ackermann said, because donors typically "don't like to give money to people with no money."

So far, grant applications have been submitted to local companies and organizations such as St. Luke's Hospital, Lutron, B Braun and Crayola, she added.

The cost to construct the open-sided stage is estimated at about $200,000, and once completed it will be multi-functional, Ackermann emphasized.

In addition to providing a shelter for musical performers, it could be used as a venue for weddings and theatrical performances during the warmer months.

Over the years, the Hellertown Enhancement Project has helped bring to fruition a number of initiatives that have benefitted and beautified the borough, Ackermann told council during her presentation.

Among them have been the construction of "Hellertown Welcomes You" signs at key entry points to the town; the installation of Victorian reproduction streetlamps on Main Street telephone poles; the hanging of banners along Main Street; and the Town Center Tree Project, which oversaw the planting of street trees along Route 412.

The HEP's focus for the past eight years has been its Music in the Park program, which annually brings three musical acts to Dimmick Park for free community concerts in June, July and August, Ackermann said.

Ackermann highlighted the unique partnership HEP has forged with both the Hellertown Lions and the Saucon Valley Rotary--two service organizations that prepare and sell food during the concerts.

Food sales from the Dimmick Park pavilion are what help pay for the performances, and the donation of time and treasure by the service organizations is much appreciated by HEP, Ackermann said.

"We cried, actually, when (the partnership began), because we were so happy to have some help," she said.

Ackermann also said the helps HEP by publicizing in advance the Second Sunday concerts each season.