SARATOGA COUNTY, N.Y. â When the clock struck midnight and 2020 began last January, the New Year kicked off with people making goals and having high hopes for the year ahead.
However, that all changed on March 7, when Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced the first two positive Novel Coronavirus cases in Saratoga County. From that day on, cases throughout the state and the Capital Region continued to rise.
With the spike in cases, the governor decided to put the state on âpauseâ, which meant many businesses and restaurants had to close to the public.
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Restaurants had to pivot and change their game plan to allow for take-out only, while other businesses struggled too much to reopen.
Save Our Stages could mean relief for arts venues | The Daily Gazette
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Relief may be in sight for Capital Region theaters and other cultural institutions.
The $900 billion federal COVID relief bill recently approved by Congress includes the Save Our Stages Act, which provides $15 billion in grant programs for music venues, performing arts centers and others.
“First, the entire bill of support is a welcome relief for the country and the community,” said Proctors Collaborative CEO Philip Morris in a statement.
“Proctors will only survive in a vibrant economy once the fear of COVID has passed. The bill supports our entire economy. Second, the section aimed at live entertainment is an acknowledgment of the disastrous impact COVID and its related closures has meant for artists, actors, designers, stagehands and facilities like Proctors, Capital Repertory Theatre and Universal Preservation Hall. This may be the lift we need to get to a reopening.”
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. â Saratoga Performing Arts Center leaders reflected on its reimagined 2020 season at their final meeting of the year, while looking ahead to 2021.
The SPAC board of directors gathered virtually on Thursday for its winter board meeting to discuss the current state of the center and recap the 2020 SPAC Reimagined season.
Like so many cultural institutions around the world, SPACâs 2020 was remarkably different than what president and CEO Elizabeth Sobol imagined when the ambitiously programmed season was first announced in January.
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âJust over seven months ago, SPAC took the unprecedented measure of cancelling its whole Summer season in the face of the worsening coronavirus pandemic,â Sobol said in a press release. âTaking that step felt literally like walking off a cliff.â