The future.
That’s what the Mass Cultural Council's announcement earlier this month that a total of $842,000 in Cultural Facilities Fund grants will go to nine area Cape Cod and Islands organizations means to the groups struggling to figure out what’s next after the shutdowns and losses of the pandemic.
“I’ve said all along that if we got this grant, we can just keep going," said Janine Perry, producing artistic director at Cape Rep Theatre in Brewster, where work is due to wrap up next month on the restoration of the exterior of the century-old Crosby Barn.
That building will become the company’s second indoor performance space, but the inside of the barn is now empty. With the $190,000 facilities grant — which must be matched through fundraising, so it becomes almost $400,000 — Cape Rep officials can take a big step toward finishing the overall $2.3 million project. The restoration was also recently supported by $400,000 in town Community Development funds.