Following in the footsteps of other Massachusetts communities, Belmont Media Center is saying goodbye to rented commercial space and creating dedicated studio spaces in the town-owned buildings.
As part of that move, the nonprofit is looking to raise money to buy new equipment for its new studios in Belmont Middle and High School, and at the new library on Concord Avenue.
Fundraising kicked off earlier this month, according to Ellen Schreiber, who is leading the fundraising campaign.
Belmont Media Center Executive Director Jeff Hansell said Monday that to date, more than half of the $229,000 goal has been raised.
“I’m really hopeful we’ll hit that target,” he said.
After nearly 20 years of refurbishing old equipment rather than buying new, the money raised will be used to acquire new cameras and a new lighting grid, carry out necessary networking improvements, and cover unknown costs associated with moving the municipal cable hub, currently headquartered in Waverley Square.
“Our idea is to outfit [the studios] with equipment that is not going to need to be replaced in a short time,” Hansell said while touring the high school studio this week.
He’s found success in keeping old equipment working.
“Today, we have cameras for students covering sports that are older than they are,” he said.
Adjacent to a computer lab, the Belmont Media Center has a studio and a control room, which will be used largely for student-related productions, but also for other projects.
“This was built out as part of the design for the high school,” Hansell said.
According to Hansell, he was asked by the former superintendent to help design the space “with the idea we could use it in collaboration with the schools.”
According to Hansell, the high school is a familiar environment for the Belmont Media Center.
“We’re already here,” he said. “We have equipment we use on a regular basis … So this is, in a way, an extension of what we’re doing.”
What wasn’t in the plan, he said, was the decrease in funding the center receives from the franchise fees, due to the increase in streaming and decline of cable.
“We felt it was prudent to have a separate fundraising campaign to pay for some of the equipment,” he said.
The library, meanwhile, will also have a studio with full capabilities, which will be open to the public. There will also be two edit bays outside the studio space.
“The library is the perfect place for Belmont Media,” Schreiber said. “225,000 visitors every year come through the library.”
The new space will be about two-thirds the size of the place in Waverley Square, but it will save the nonprofit nearly $100,000 in rent and utility costs—allowing for the potential to expand staffing to include a full-time and part-time staff member, according to Hansell.
“I’m really excited about it because we’re going with leading technology,” Hansell said.
