Caroga Arts Collective, Sherman’s Park Amphitheater

Built in the 1920s as an amusement park for summer residents and visitors to the Southern Adirondacks, Sherman’s Amusement Park reached its peak popularity in the mid-20th century. Its cluster of buildings included a restaurant/dance hall, snack bar, special events space, bumper car pavilion, Ferris wheel, and carousel. Visitors could also enjoy breathtaking views while bathing and boating on the lake. Over the next 50 years Sherman’s popularity waned, and it closed for good in the early 2010s.

It was right about this time that Kyle Barrett Price, a musician studying at Cleveland Institute of Music, dreamt of bringing chamber music to this site, eventually founding the Caroga Lake Music Festival in 2012. More than 10 years later, the festival now attracts well-known musicians and has grown to incorporate classical, experimental, folk, rock and international music styles.

Acentech partnered with architect, Thaler Reilly Wilson, on the 2020 master plan and design of an outdoor performance stage, to transform the amusement park site into a premier outdoor multi-use performance space, right on the waterfront. The multi-phase project, when complete, will accommodate 1,500 patrons and an 80-person orchestra.

The stage, performance enclosure and outdoor audience seating area were designed to provide a beautiful sound experience for patrons, while maintaining excellent hearing conditions for the performers, which can be challenging in outdoor venues. The acoustical design was carefully coordinated with theatrical lighting and architectural features including windows in the upstage wall that provide a stunning lake view beyond the performers.

Our audiovisual team designed a sound system that will be used to support presentations and live music performance. The system will include a premier and rider-friendly digital mixing console, audio and video monitoring to back-of-house spaces, production communications for technical staff, video recording and live streaming capability, and a large LED video wall to the side of the performance area. The system also includes a video projection system that can be used for viewing movies, presenter content, and can be moved to the rear of the stage area and above the performers on the stage for video playback during music performances. Audio-visual equipment was selected with special consideration for exposure to outdoor conditions.

When completed, this new outdoor performance hall will be a major economic driver for the region.

For more information about the Sherman’s Park Amphitheater, visit their website at carogaarts.org