Goodbye to the old Freeman Stage, hello to the future

Terry Griffith stands, eating a burger at a table — staring at the Freeman Stage, which is set to be replaced for the next year.

At an event on Oct. 15 for the stage's sponsors, members of the community came together to celebrate the most recent Freeman Stage season as well as to remember the stage itself.

"It's hard to pick one memory in particular, but I would say performances put on to benefit community is special," said Griffith, who is a sponsor of the Freeman Stage. "It's not about the acts, including the national recording artists, which are brought to southern Delaware. It's about the children of Sussex County."

The Freeman Stage has been a staple in the southern Delaware arts scene since it was first opened in 2008 and, now that the season was over, it was time to say "goodbye" to a part of the Freeman Stage: the stage itself.

The current stage will be replaced by a temporary, mobile stage while the Coastal Arts Pavilion at Freeman Park is being planned and constructed, according to a video statement from Freeman Stage president Michelle Freeman. The temporary stage which is planned on being used will differ from the current stage because the temporary stage being brought in is closer to a traditional stage while the current stage is similar to a bandstand.

Tentatively, the Coastal Arts Pavilion at Freeman Park will be built at the current location of The Cove Bar and Grille, according to the Freeman Stage website, and is still in the early stages of development.

READ MORE: Food trucks to headline at Freeman Stage

READ MORE: How Freeman Stage got its groove on

.

"This stage will allow for more diverse programming to continue on our mission and be vital source for exceptional cultural experiences," she said.

Freeman explained that, when the current stage opened in 2008, it was sufficient to cover their needs.

"This different stage coming next year will allow us to have larger acts, and some of the same acts we have had in the past we can have in the future without having a lot of rentals," said Patti Grimes, the executive director of the Joshua M. Freeman Foundation. "This will be the established footprint of the stage to come and this is all part of our evolution. We started with the Freeman Stage in 2008 and we will have this stage for a couple years, and that will bring us to the Coastal Arts Pavilion in a couple of years."

Freeman said they are being smart with their dollars to ensure a more desirable experience for performers and members of the production team.

"The stage has remained the same in the nine years we have been doing this and this is the next iteration, the next step, the next stage in the stage's life," she said. "The little stage that could, this little wooden stage that is close to our hearts, has served us beyond well. We have transformed it, fixed, it changed it in so many different ways it's time to put it to rest."

Grimes said that, in its first year, the Freeman Stage saw 13,500 visitors. This year, 65,000 people came to the Freeman Stage.

"We need a different stage that can accommodate this growth," she said. "The new stage will be a mobile stage that is coming in April 2017 and it's a deeper and higher stage, which is good for lighting and sound."

As for Griffith, he just has one piece of advice for the Freeman Stage and Joshua M. Freeman Foundation as they turn towards the future.

"Continue what you're doing," he said.

rghughes@dmg.gannett.com

On Twitter @hughesg19