Meet Your Makerspace!
By Meghan Foley, Keene Sentinel Staff
The creative juices are flowing around a proposal to get more creative juices flowing in the Monadnock Region.
Keene resident John P. Bolster has been working for the past year on a project to establish a makerspace in the city where artisans [and innovators] can learn, create, collaborate and grow.
His efforts, which he said Sunday started with a conversation with Robert Stillings of River Valley Community College, are on track to come to fruition sooner rather than later — as Make It So: The Monadnock Makerspace.
“Basically it’s going to be a place where people can go to access all the things they need to practice and develop their crafts whether they are crafters, hobbyists or just the general public at large,” he said.
People will be encouraged to collaborate either within, or across disciplines, develop their products and learn from one another, he said. The makerspace will also have instructors who will offer classes to people wanting to pursue certain interests, he said.
Those interests include metal and woodworking, welding, electronics, robotics, automotive technology and the arts, he said.
Photo by BIll Gnade
So where do you put a place that includes space for the arts, a research and development lab and a recreational hobby shop?
A partially condemned, 8,000-square-foot building in the heart of downtown Keene at 12 Eagle Court.
The building, which is in the city’s historic district, was, at one time, scheduled to be demolished.
The building is owned by Ellis Robertson Corp. of Chesterfield, which is very supportive of the project, Bolster said.
“It’s a diamond in the rough,” Bolster said of the two story, wooden-framed building with a large cinderblock addition.
It has potential and character to handle the many proposed facets of the makerspace including being a place people can practice their crafts, and having the tools they need to do so, he said. Converting an area of the building into studios and some residential units is also part of the plan. The living areas would provide housing for artisans who have come to the area to teach a class at the makerspace, or those who don’t live nearby, but are working at the building on a project, he said.
Bolster estimates start-up costs for the makerspace will be roughly $30,000, with about $20,000 going toward renovations to get approximately 4,600 square feet open for use, he said.
An Internet-based fundraising campaign is in the works to cover those start-up costs, and the start of that endeavor, including the website where donations can be made, will be announced in the coming weeks, he said.
Bolster hopes to open the makerspace as soon as the renovations are complete, he said. The time frame of this will depend on fundraising, he said.
Eventually more renovations would be made as money becomes available with the goal of opening up the entire building for mixed use creative and residential spaces, he said.
The makerspace, which will seek nonprofit status, will rely on membership dues, studio and storage space rentals, product developing consulting fees and grants to make ends meet, he said. Those dues will range from $45 for a five-day pass to $150 a month for access to the facility 24 hours a day, seven days a week, according to a brochure about the makerspace.
While Bolster is leading the effort to open the makerspace, he is getting a lot of support from people and organizations in the community who are very excited about it, he said.
“My initial goal going into this is to create learning opportunities for people to deepen their skills at their own pace and on their own budget,” Bolster, who has an entrepreneurial background in product development, said.
Now, he also sees it as a place for the cohesion of culture and new ideas, he said. He also sees it attracting more entrepreneurial and creative talent to the region.
Humans by nature are creators, and providing a space for that creativity to flourish can make the Monadnock Region, and the world a better place, he said.
Meghan Foley can be reached at 352-1234, extension 1436, or mfoley@keenesentinel.com. Follow her on Twitter @MFoleyKS.