Bellefonte Arts & Crafts Fair serving as fundraising opportunity for organizers of Talleyrand Stage

Centre Co., PA (WJAC) — Plans for a new performing arts venue in Centre County are getting a hometown boost this weekend.

In Bellefonte this weekend, arts and music are filling the downtown streets and are serving as a beneficial backdrop to discuss plans for the Stage at Talleyrand Project, which is envisioned as a multi-purpose, outdoor, performing arts venue at nearby Talleyrand Park.

“I think the more people know about it, the more buzz there is about it. I’d say 90 percent of the feedback were getting is positive. I mean this will be something that the entire county can utilize.”

Tom Wilson is a former mayor of Bellefonte, and he and organizers are stressing that the Talleyrand Stage will be a multi-purpose, regionally accessible site.

There are various issues, including parking and traffic, that will require further review and planning, but fundraising is the priority now.

Organizers have an ambitious goal for the Talleyrand Stage, to raise more than $2 million, but half of that is already secured.

One issue to be decided is whether to wait on hopefully raising the entire amount, or at some point moving ahead with the funding available.

“That’s a good question. We’ve talked both sides of that. To say are we going to build with what we have or are we going to wait to build what we really want, that’s a discussion that will probably ensue a year from now.”

About a year from now is the tentative date for groundbreaking for the Stage at Talleyrand.

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