Mt. Ida Preservation Hall – an Xperience Interview

Mt. Ida Preservation Hall – an Xperience Interview – by Niki Kaos.

I met Michael Easterbrook when renting the Mt. Ida Preservation Hall for the “Moochie the Dumpster Kat” musical premiere. He was easy to work with, and I was excited to learn about how this community space at 548 Congress Street in Troy has been evolving. With a rich history and a small but dedicated group of people, this church has been saved and is being restored as a community gathering and performance space.

RRX: Michael, how did you first find out about Mt. Ida?

ME: Being a local, I live very close by, and I walk by the church relatively frequently. It has these big red doors, and its architecture is immediately noticeable. One day there were a couple of board members on the front step, and I asked them about what was going on. They told me about the Mt. Ida Preservation Association, aimed at saving the building and keeping it alive for the neighborhood. I had wanted to find a way to give back to the community, as I had recently moved to the area coming out of college, and this looked like a great way to start getting involved.

RRX: I learned the building was saved from demolition. What’s that about?

ME: The building itself was built in 1869 and was an Episcopal church up until 2000, then sat abandoned for nine years until 2009. At the time, the city of Troy was going around and looking to demolish neglected buildings for safety reasons. The hall was on the list, and there was some community outcry about this because it’s such a beautiful building with a lot of American Gothic Revival architecture.

In the paperwork that the city was preparing for the demolition, they found a reverter clause in the deed that allowed the church to pass ownership to a descendant of a reverend. And it just so happened that one of the co-founders of the Mt. Ida Preservation Association, which already existed to fix a historic dam, was just such a descendant. So, the building was able to pass to Brant Caird, and he was able to pass the building on to the Mt. Ida Preservation Association. And that’s when the organization’s work began to focus on restoring the building.

RRX: One of the things that impresses me most about Mt. Ida is the dedication of the volunteers. I noticed you have a food pantry. What is the story behind the food mission work you do?

ME: We were looking for purposes for the building, and we went through a number of them, but a big year for us was 2016, which was actually a year before I was involved. The group had managed to get the community hall on the basement level fixed up enough to get a certificate of occupancy from the city, which officially allowed it to be used as a functional space.

The food pantry, which used to be out of the Baptist church just down the road, could not operate there anymore. And we opened just in time to take on the food pantry. That was a defining moment for Mt. Ida, because it embarked us on our community focus. We moved from a historical preservation group to a historical preservation AND community group. That started with the food pantry, and they’ve been with us since 2016. We’ve been happy to work with them.

RRX: I think we need community spaces like that. It’s great that you are working to make that happen. On that note, you’ve recently opened the performance space upstairs. What are your hopes for Mt. Ida as a performance space? And what do you have upcoming?

ME: I joined Mt. Ida in 2017, and I really liked the community aspect, and I saw that the need was there. At the time, there was still some indecision about which way to go and I think a big component of community is connection. And what connects people is art. And we had a sanctuary that perfectly lends itself as a venue because there’s a natural stage and seating.

We opened our performance venue in April 2024 and established a program committee run by volunteers. Then we put out a call to local artists to make them aware that the space existed and that we wanted to develop programs with the goal of bringing people together and creating community. That’s kind of always the undertone of all the performances. It’s also what I think is really cool about the organization and being a nonprofit. It’s about getting people together and having something special that we can all use and benefit from.

RRX: I commend you and all of the volunteers at Mt. Ida for choosing that path and working together to create that space. It enriches our community and our connection with each other. I’m grateful that you’ve taken on that work. So, what do you have upcoming? What exciting events are you bringing in?

ME: We have so many things. I’ll start with the lunar series, a singer-songwriter-based series every month on the Monday closest to the full moon. Usually like the third Monday. The series is curated every month by Natalie Seagriff. She sets up candles, and it’s absolutely beautiful. On November 2, we’ll be having an electronic and rock music festival called Astral Odyssey. And an event in December where we’re bringing in a piano. That event is still taking shape. It’s all super exciting. Then on the 14th, we’re having a holiday market and that’ll wrap up our 2024 events.

Our 2025 calendar is exciting. We’ll be doing more work with the Community Rising project and hosting some of their workshops throughout the year. The Luna series will be continuing. We’ll be doing a few drag shows, so keep your eye out for those. But the one I really wanna talk about is a holiday party in January, for the community and Mt. Ida volunteers. We don’t want to clog up the December channel because there’s already so much going on with the holidays. But in mid-January, we’d like to have a free celebration for the public to attend. The point is to get together and celebrate what we’ve accomplished so far and everyone who’s made Mt. Ida possible. There’s an unbelievable number of hands that have made possible what we’re doing in one way or another.

RRX: How do people get information if they want to volunteer at Mt. Ida?

ME: The best way to keep track of what we’re doing with events or get involved is to look at our posts on Facebook and Instagram. Send us a message and we will be happy to connect with you.

We have a lot of different ways that you can be involved. We have the program committee if you’d like to bring a show to Mt. Ida, or you could join that committee to help somebody else bring a show to the space. We have a history committee that is working on getting the building added to the National Historic Register and also a fun group to hang out and learn about the history of the neighborhood. And we have all sorts of other committees that are focused on repairing the building and keeping it nice. And the food pantry, of course. There are lots of volunteer opportunities at Mt. Ida and we love to get people from the community involved.

RRX: Readers can stay in touch with Mt. Ida on Facebook or Instagram. This is a very special incubator for creativity and community engagement! I encourage you to check out the Mt. Ida website, follow them on social media, and check out future events or volunteer opportunities at mountidatroy.org

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