By Anjelica Michael
“Loudoun County needs a first-class facility to support and grow the arts and this includes visual and performing arts,” says Bruce Gemmill, whose goal is to help well-known Levine Music find a new home in the area. The new center’s mission is to build a sense of community in the area, and make it a more attractive place to live and work, while also bringing culture through dance and music.
Stimulating the economy of Loudoun County is an added bonus to the project. The center will welcome national music tours and bands that residents of the area usually have to travel to see live, as well as local favorites who will now have a regular venue. But the benefits will not stop at performances, the project planners hope to have classes and workshops available to the community, providing education as well as entertainment.
Plans regarding size are still being brainstormed, inspiration coming from models like THEARC in Washington, D.C., but the estimated size will be a 400-800 seating capacity. This will be a multi-year process, but support by businesses and the government has been shown within the community. While funding may still be a question, Gemmill, who has now been working on the project for eight years, believes that, “if a task is one that is moral, ethical, if it touches the community spirit and enhances quality of life, then it will happen.”
(April 2014)
