Willington might not be the first town to come to mind when thinking of an arts and culture hub, but the The Eastern Connecticut Center for History, Art, and Performance, Inc. (EC-CHAP) is aiming to make the town with fewer than 6,000 residents just that.
The nonprofit organization operates the Packing House performing arts venue, the Gardiner Hall, Jr. History Museum, and the Dye & Bleach House Community Art Gallery, all located within the historic building at 156 River Road building that was originally the Gardiner Hall, Jr. Company, which spooled thread beginning in 1860.
EC-CHAP Executive Director Tom Buccino explained that the building has undergone many renovations since the nonprofit formed in 2016. It soon began hosting performances of many types.
The regular programming at the Packing House (which was literally where the thread was packaged for shipping) includes poetry events, talent shows, movies, lectures, and musical events on a regular basis. The EC-CHAP is also open to collaborations with other similar organizations.
“Our genres include singer/songwriter, blues, jazz, some classical,” Buccino said, adding that the season runs from September to May, because the building’s cooling system isn’t quite able to handle the summer heat. “We don’t have central air here. We use small AC units to control the temperature a little, but it adds noise.”
Buccino’s parents bought the property in 1962, and it was used for his father’s machine shop, and later some spaces were rented out to other buildings. When Buccino’s parents’ health declined, he became more involved with the building’s operations, and decided that it was too sentimental to sell, but that it could be used for other things.
“We tried to re-invent it,” he said. “My wife and I are very interested in the arts, so we tried to attract folks who use the creative process in their work. We were able to least out space to individual small businesses that are more on the creative side.”
The Buccinos formed the nonprofit “Friends of the Millworks” in 2013, as a means of fostering the arts community, under an agreement with Windham Arts. In 2016, it was decided the center could go out on its own, and the EC-CHAP was formed, with the goal of both honoring the history of the building and curating the arts culture.
Much of the historic building has been left intact, including the beams supporting the ceiling in the performance space, which lends not only a rustic vibe, but good acoustics for most types of music.
“The roof lends itself to a nice, acoustic space,” said Ryan Elgin, EC-CHAP’s assistant director. “It’s not great for rock music and stuff like that, but for folk music and jazz, it’s great.”
EC-CHAP is working with the State Historic Preservation Office, and is applying for SHPO grants to help renovate some of the buildings. One goal is to create an artisan cafe, and to have dedicated artist-in-residence workspace.
“This was kind of dream,” Buccino said of the performance space.
While the Packing House offers many free programs and the ticketed ones are well attended, it’s just beginning to attract musical acts with nationwide followings. Buccino said he feels there are enough arts and art lovers to support the goals of becoming more of a destination.
“We’re a small town,” he said, adding that he’s hoping to help the town embrace arts and culture as a means of improving economic development in the town.
“They’ve changed the zoning regulations in favor of pro-business,” he said. “That’s very helpful. We have a sidewalk project. The construction is supposed to start next year. That’ll help.”
Future plans are to continue growing the center, as well as its reputation.
“We want to develop the programming, bring in higher level talent,” Buccino said. “We want to bring in a paid executive director and our long-term vision is to be a prominent cultural destination in Southern New England.”
A big shot in the arm is a SHPO grant that the organization applied for in 2018. EC-CHAP applied for $100,000, but after a visit from the SHPO administrator who was pleased with what is being done, the award was amended to $150,000. EC-CHAP had to amend its lease with the Millworks building to 10 years to comply, and got the grant that December. The administrator then told Buccino, “We’ve got a little extra money. Your project is checking all the boxes. How would you like $1 million?”
“That was a good Christmas,” Buccino said. “That will help get us closer to that vision.”
The pandemic slowed the renovations and events, but they resumed in 2021, and has to date only spent approximately $35,000 of the grant. Long-term goals also include EC-CHAP taking ownership of the building, and adding equipment to stream performances and share digital programming. The board is also working to ensure access to all populations.
For more information, visit www.ec-chap.org or www.thepackinghouse.us.