Photo by Carly Rae Photo
Campaign Commitee
Suzanne Beck, Chair • Beth Raffeld, Vice-Chair • Dennis Bidwell • Chia Collins • Lori Divine-Hudson • David Gerwe
Randy Krotowski • William Newman • Nerissa Nields • Ruthie Oland • Kaliis Smith • Peter Whalen • Martin Wohl
Video by Blue Heron Productions
The Opportunity
In 2020, Northampton’s iconic Iron Horse Music Hall, western Massachusetts’ signature music venue, went dark during the pandemic. By 2023, The Iron Horse, Pearl Street, and the Calvin Theater were still shuttered, with downtown dotted with vacant storefronts.
Restaurants, hotels, and shops slowly reopened. But the cultural heartbeat of the city was still missing.
Founded in 1979, The Iron Horse has hosted countless legendary artists, from Tracy Chapman and Wynton Marsalis to Beck, Bela Fleck, Idina Menzel, and many more. Just down the street, The Parlor Room Collective (PRCO) kept presenting live music, grounded in a clear mission:
“To enhance the health and vitality of our community through the power of music.”
Then the Parlor Room team asked a few simple questions:
What if we rescued The Iron Horse and its liquor license?
What if we brought back hundreds of shows and thousands of patrons each year?
What if The Iron Horse became a catalyst for Main Street’s recovery?
What if we widened the circle, welcoming artists and audiences who historically felt excluded?
So we went for it.
With the help of donors, volunteers, and partners, PRCO launched an ambitious renovation effort. In just four and a half months, The Iron Horse was reborn. In May 2024, the Grand Re-Opening featured jazz duo Rachael & Vilray, and downtown heard live music again.
Photo by Leigh Chodos
The Iron Horse Today
Since reopening, The Iron Horse has:
Presented 400+ shows for 60,000+ audience members
Paid $1.5M+ to artists and arts educators
Built a community of 1,200+ active members, plus 600 free memberships for students and low-income community members
Helped increase downtown foot traffic, supporting nearby restaurants, bars, and shops
Co-produced major community events like Back Porch Festival, Taste of Northampton and The Doozy Do Parade
Expanded access by providing hundreds of tickets to local nonprofit partners through our Community Ticket Program
Expanded educational and family programming through the Musicians Workshop and Mr. Liam Kids Series
Generated an estimated $2.4M annually for Northampton’s economy and supported 22+ full-time jobs (based on national arts economic impact models)
What’s Next:
The Playing It Forward Campaign
Photo by Emma Colwell
After the success of the renovation and reopening, The Iron Horse is firing on all cylinders: almost-daily live music, deeper community programming, and growing impact that reaches far beyond the stage.
Now we’re asking the broader community to help us take the next essential step: make this comeback durable.
Here’s the honest truth: the renovation left us with remaining construction debt. Operations are strong, but until we finish paying down and restructuring that debt, what we’ve rebuilt is more at risk than it should be, including our ability to keep expanding access and community programs.
Our goal is $800,000.
The Playing It Forward Campaign will strengthen the long-term financial health of an iconic Pioneer Valley music institution, so The Iron Horse can keep delivering year-round music and mission-driven initiatives, and stay resilient through whatever comes next.
The Renovation: What Made It Possible
The renovation and reopening were made possible by:
839 community donations totaling $875,000
Major support from the City of Northampton, Florence Bank, and private lenders
Contractors and volunteers led by D.A. Sullivan and Bonham and Douglas Architects, who completed the work in 4½ months
And a year and a half in, The Iron Horse is operating in the black.
Photo by Leigh Chodos
What Your Support Makes Possible
Your gift helps us:
Keep the music coming
Year-round, high-quality shows that connect audiences and artists in downtown Northampton.
Strengthen resilience
Pay down and restructure remaining construction debt and build real operating reserves, so repairs, upgrades, and surprises don’t interrupt the mission.
Expand community access
More free memberships, student programs, family shows, workshops, and partnerships that increase diversity and accessibility.
Boost downtown vibrancy
Collaborations with local businesses and regional venues, plus new initiatives that keep Northampton’s cultural heartbeat strong.
Photo by Carly Rae Photo
Photo by Carly Rae Photo
Join Us in Preserving Live Music in Downtown Northampton
How You Can Help
From now through May 2026, we’re raising $800,000+ from individuals, foundations, businesses, sponsorships, and government grants, building on the momentum of the first campaign and the hundreds of donors who made reopening possible.
Places like this don’t stay strong by accident. They last because a community decides they matter.
Your gift helps ensure Northampton remains a place where:
Artists are celebrated
Downtown businesses flourish
Live music brings people together, now and for generations to come
Photo by David Barnum / @davidbarnumphoto
Building Our Community
From food runners and bartenders to performing artists and arts educators, volunteers and box office staff to members and patrons, The Iron Horse’s ecosystem is centered in community.
Meet ML Wilson, a local community member who has been volunteering with us since we reopened.
Video by Blue Heron Productions
The Iron Horse Gratitude Wall
We are so grateful to our members for their avid support and enthusiasm in keeping our venue thriving.
As part of the Playing It Forward Campaign, every donation $85 or more includes a membership at the level that matches your gift. This includes:
Early access to tickets so you can grab seats before the general on-sale
Member Discovery Shows (monthly free performances featuring our favorite new artist discoveries)
$2 discounts on all shows plus heavily discounted rush tickets for last-minute plans
Donations $400 and over get a Bronze Steward Membership (without the comp tickets).
Donations $1,000 and over get a Silver Steward Membership (without the comp tickets).
Donations $2,500 and over get a Gold Steward Membership (without the comp tickets).
Bronze, Silver and Gold Steward Memberships include the above benefits PLUS Premium Concierge Service to help you reserve your favorite table at The Iron Horse.
"As an artist growing up and living in western Mass, The Iron Horse has been a place of education; it's been a school. It has also been a place of community; reconnecting with my fellow songwriters, and fellow music creators."
- Seth Glier
Grammy-nominated musician and former Iron Horse staff member
Photo by Carly Rae Photo
What About the Calvin?
The Iron Horse is not the end of the story. What felt like a pipe dream in 2023 became real when The Horse reopened in May 2024. And once you’ve seen that kind of comeback happen, it’s hard not to imagine what could be next.
The Calvin is a 1,300-seat theater right around the corner from The Iron Horse in downtown Northampton. If it reopens, the impact of live music downtown wouldn’t just grow, it would compound: bigger nights, bigger tours, and a bigger ripple effect across Main Street. It could mean a stronger home base for major community moments too, helping festivals like Back Porch Festival and First Night feel even more vibrant, while filling restaurants, bars, hotels, and shops throughout the district.
We have every hope that a future exists where the Calvin reopens, and we want to help make that possible when the time is right. For decades, these rooms were part of the same engine: nights at The Iron Horse helped sustain the downtown momentum that made the Calvin viable alongside it. That’s still true. This campaign is focused on making The Iron Horse comeback durable by paying down remaining renovation debt and strengthening reserves, so we can stay focused on keeping the broader music ecosystem strong and the Calvin’s next chapter within reach.
Ways to Give
Give online: Use the DONATE button to make a gift by card.
Give by check:
The Parlor Room, Inc.
32 Masonic Street
Northampton, MA 01060
Photo by Carly Rae Photo
Stock, sponsorship, and other gifts:
Caitlin Reardon, Community Relations Coordinator: development@parlorroom.org
Suzanne Beck, Chair, Playing It Forward Campaign Committee: development@parlorroom.org
Dennis Bidwell, Playing It Forward Campaign Committee
Eric Phelps, Campaign Counsel: eric@rainmkr.com
Chris Freeman, Executive Director
Photo by Carly Rae Photo
