LightHouse Holyoke has found its forever home. We've acquired a three-building, 40,000 square foot campus in the heart of downtown Holyoke at 92 Race Street, just down the block from our previous space. This acquisition represents a monumental leap forward in our mission to change what school can be.
Our new facility, the former Gateway City Arts, is an incredible treasure on Race St., a powerful asset, and a cornerstone of the growing arts and culture district in Holyoke.
Our new home allows us to introduce several exciting new vocational tracks, a wealth of new programming, and double our enrollment over the next two years. We're launching a Production Academy where students will learn event production and stagecraft, a new theater program, setting up a community maker space to share this resource with the larger community, and developing a cafe management program to give our students hands-on experience in the culinary world. Looking ahead, we're also planning to introduce vocational programs in carpentry, metalwork, and tailoring.
The three-building campus is impressive in both size and potential. The main building spans three floors and a basement, with each level covering about 8,000 square feet. We now have a concert venue that can hold 500 people, a dedicated theater space, a cafe, various art studios, and a huge maker space. In addition to continued facility upgrades, the next phase build out includes a fine arts studio, science lab, recording studio, and media lab.
Gateway City Arts was founded and developed by Lori Divine and Vitek Kruta. We could not be more honored to take up the mantle and continue their work of developing a thriving arts and education community in downtown Holyoke.
Some things will change: Our school will be located in the main building. We’re engaged in a TURBO renovation project at present, led by Houle Construction, designed and engineered by HAI Architecture and made LightHouse beautiful by Small Victories Interior Design.
Some things will expand: There is an 8,000 sq ft maker space on the basement level that we aim to support as a community maker space. In addition to reopening as a live venue (more below), The Divine Theater will also host our new in-house theater program led by Isaac Eddy (formerly of The Blue Man Group.)
Some things will be reborn: Both venues are about to relaunch. In collaboration with Laudable Productions the large venue is being recreated as a performing arts center: De la Luz Soundstage. Laudable will also manage the Divine Theater: De la Luz Divine. Both venues will host a range of performances including nationally and internationally touring artists, building on the foundation laid by GCA. The cafe will also reopen as a public facing cafe (staffed in part by LightHouse students) as well as serve as an incubator and pop up opportunity for local chefs to offer a range of fare paired with events in both venues.
We’re excited to reopen the venues, and even more excited to use the venues as a real-world training ground for youth enrolled in our new Production Academy. Behind the scenes every event will be collaboratively produced by cohorts of young people working alongside professional adults in all aspects of event creation. Two vocational tracks will work together to engage both LightHouse students and interns (alumni and local youth aged 16-24); Production Academy: Producers and Production Academy: Stagecraft. Highly transferrable skills developed through these opportunities will serve young people as they move forward into any field. Youth who would like to move into careers in the entertainment industry will gain marketable skills and connections to nearby opportunities.
While GCA has been a well known entity, its relationship to LightHouse is less widely known.
Lori Divine and Vitek Kruta bought the former Judd’s Paper Company in 2012, and launched a 12-year journey that achieved more than would seem possible in just over a decade and through a global pandemic.
After creating a small restaurant (Tiny Kitchen), a theater, a woodshop, and art studios in the main building, Lori and Vitek bought the former garage next door and transformed it into a 500-person capacity concert hall, and began bringing nationally touring acts to Holyoke for the first time since The Victory Theater closed in 1979.
With the skills and vision of beloved local contractor, Terrence Bernhard, the team then built the cafe connector building between the main building and the garage-turned-venue, creating a three building arts complex with a huge, commercial kitchen and accompanying cafe. Our friends at Fame, another treasure just across the canal, got their Holyoke start there as The Famous Cafe. Over the years friends far and wide have enjoyed the beer garden, lunches, brunches, and untold numbers of concerts, performances, and events in the two venues, and eventually, delicious Czech cuisine in Judd’s, the third restaurant built onsite.
In the midst of expanding the GCA property, their team also acquired the STEAM Building, just down the block at 208 Race. When LightHouse was still mostly an idea in the heads of Josiah Litant and Catherine Gobron, Lori took a chance on us and we moved in as the first tenants at 208.
With the support of our angel donor, Gaye Hill, Josiah and Catherine signed the lease on behalf of LightHouse Holyoke, our freshly incorporated nonprofit. In a mad dash very similar to the one we’re in now, Terrance and his team completed the entire build out in a few short months and LightHouse opened in September, 2015.
That first day of school for LightHouse in September, 2015 we had lunch at The Tiny Kitchen in GCA with our new cohort of 19 intrepid students. When it was time for our first graduation in 2017, we held it in the GCA space that later became Judd’s Czech Restaurant. (Photos below!)
Over the years GCA has hosted many events for us... it’s been a decade of connection.
Thanks to an amazing set of visionary donors who together generated $1.5M, and the support of Greenfield Northampton Cooperative Bank with a bond through Mass Development to cover the rest of the purchase and renovations, we closed on July 18, 2024 (which is also Josiah’s birthday!) Perfect and meant to be in every way.
We are in a full on flurry of renovation activity before opening in the new space in just a couple weeks. We’d love for you to come in for a tour!
Many thanks, again, to Lori and Vitek for all of your work in Holyoke. LightHouse is eager to continue your vision. We consider ourselves stewards of this jewel you have created. We are deeply honored to open the doors wide and share this incredible resource with the Holyoke community and beyond.