HYANNIS – The Hyannis Film Festival has been working with the Sturgis Charter Public School to develop a multipurpose arts center along Main Street.
The festival will utilize the space during their inaugural event in October.
The school is hoping that the building, called 529 Main, evolves into a performing arts center for students as well as the community.
Susan Fernald, co-founder of the Hyannis Film Festival, said getting space on Main Street was a “dream” for the festival’s future.
“We feel amazingly lucky to find a space on Main Street, Hyannis, which is where we want to keep the Hyannis Film Festival,” Fernald said.
“We just can’t imagine that we found a space that’s going to be workable in the long run for us, and in a partnership that we hope lasts a long time.”
Connections with the Hyannis Main Street Business Improvement District kicked off talks with the festival’s leadership regarding use of the building, which eventually led to Sturgis being involved in future plans.
The facility already has a screen, speakers, and 500 seats. Rental equipment would be utilized at first for the film festival, but Fernald said an ultimate goal would be to raise funds for permanent equipment, as the Sturgis School has many plans for the space.
“They want to make that a multi-functional space,” Fernald said.
“They’d like to be able to have theater, and music, and dance, and things like that.”
As the festival prepares to begin its first event, Fernald said that the plan is to use 529 Main as the sole theater to screen films. In the future, however, more locations could be used.
Fundraising for the inaugural festival is still being conducted. For more information, visit www.hyannisfilmfestival.com.
About Brendan Fitzpatrick
