“To every elected official, public servant, contractor, designer, first responder, and community partner, and volunteer who helped make this day possible, together, you have done more than rebuild a structure,” said NYS Assemblyman Matt Simpson. “You have renewed a promise: a promise that the music will continue, that families will continue to gather here, that future generations will experience the same sense of wonder that has drawn people to Lake George, the place of the original vacation for more than 100 years. May this stage stand as a reminder that when New Yorkers come together with a shared purpose, we preserve not only our history, we also create our future.”
Simpson was speaking at the Shepard Park Performance Stage dedication ceremony held in the park Friday afternoon. The new stage replaces the bandshell that was lost to fire in June 2024, just as a full schedule of summer and autumn concerts and festivals was to begin.
“June 30, 2024, in the wee hours of the morning, will be a moment I’ll never forget,” said Village of Lake George Mayor Ray Perry. “While you can never fully prepare for a disastrous fire, our staff mobilized immediately. And there aren’t many people that you can call at five in the morning on a Sunday, but Ruben and Dana Ellsworth are definitely ones that you can. They were on the scene within half an hour, ready to remove the debris and help us to save what we could of our summer concert series. We missed one show.”
The summer of 2024 and 2025 concerts continued under a tent on a temporary stage, with winter events such as “Lite up the Village” and the Lake George Winter Carnival moving festivities to Blais Park on Beach Road.
“For a century, this amphitheater has been at the heart of our village’s cultural life,” says Perry. “The prior stage served us well, but as time went on, we knew the space needed to evolve, both to meet modern needs and to honor the growing energy of our arts community, and we began planning for that [before the fire].
The tragedy of the loss became an opportunity to build a modern performance stage with a rehearsal space and a conference room beneath it. The design includes a fold-up window across the back of the stage to provide shelter from the elements for winter events.
“So today,” said Perry, “we’re standing before a reimagined performance space that honors its history while opening a door to an exciting future. It’s designed to elevate our concerts, our festivals, every community event that makes Lake George such a special place to live.”
Construction began last fall, and a chain-link fence has blocked off the site since then. Perry thanked residents and business owners for their patience during the construction, saying, “You know, they say good fences make good neighbors, but ugly fences make great construction sites.”
Perry acknowledged the many people and organizations that helped make the new stage possible, including NYS Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, NYS Assemblyman Matt Simpson, NY Dept. of State Community and Economic Development Division Director Amanda Smith, NYS Assemblyman Ed Ra, AJA Architecture Owner and Principal Andrew Alison, and Lake George Arts Project Director Tanya Tobias.
Tobias also spoke at the ceremony. “We’re standing on this world-class stage today,” she said, “because our community came together with a shared belief that this is a space in what happens here actually matters.” The Arts Project brings free concerts to Shepard Park on Wednesday evenings through July and August and hosts the celebrated “Jazz at the Lake” festival each September.
“By combining state-of-the-art features for artists and the audiences with a design that respects the natural beauty of the lake,” Tobias says, “this project elevates the performance experience for touring artists, improves the experience for our audiences, and will cement Lake Georgia’s reputation as a premier cultural destination.”
The Shepard Park Performance Stage received funding from a New York State Downtown Revitalization Initiative grant. Amanda Smith with the New York State Department of State spoke at the ceremony about what DRI investments can achieve.
“[T]oday is about much more than cutting a ribbon. It’s about celebrating a vision coming to life … The beautiful new venue that you have will serve as the heart of Lake George’s waterfront, bringing residents together, attracting visitors from all over, like there are here today, supporting local businesses, and creating memorable experiences through music, art, and community events.”
The final speaker, Lake George Regional Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Gina Mintzer, said, “Spaces like this help to define a community. They give people a reason to gather, to connect and feel a sense of belonging. They also strengthen the visitor experience and contribute to the vibrancy and vitality of our downtown.” Mintzer then invited the audience on stage to join in the concluding ribbon-cutting ceremony.
For a schedule of Shepard Park events, visit the Lake George Examiner. Follow the Village of Lake George’s Facebook page for information and last-minute schedule updates.
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