MARQUETTE, Mich. (WZMQ) – The Marquette City Band’s season is in full swing, and the band has a new spot to perform on. For the last 136 years the band has been gifting the public with music.
“People love it,” remarked Marquette City Band director, Stephen Gurgin.
The band has been performing on Presque Isle for over 90 years. and just about every performance has been in the Presque Isle bandshell.
“It’s deteriorated structurally,” said Gurgin about the bandshell.
Band Director, Steven Grugin says, for all of last year and the beginning of 2023 the band had been performing on the ground in front of the former shell. Not only does playing music on the ground make it harder for spectators to view the band, but the musicians say it has an effect on sound as well. To overcome these challenges the band set out to build a new stage.
“It wasn’t here last week and now it is,” said Band President Gordon Erickson.
In just 7 days a two tiered surface was laid down by volunteers and band members. The stage was made possible thanks to a donation from the Residences at North Harbor, a planned condo development in Marquette.
“We have such a generous group who donates to us consistently,” added Erickson.
The Marquette City Band also has plans to build a new band shell and eventually move performances back to where they have been for 9 decades.
Grugin says the new stage will make a huge difference for performances moving forward. The project was done with the audience in mind.
“The main thing is just watching the people get so much enjoyment out of watching the band play,” commented Grurgin.
While Gurgin doesn’t have an exact timeline for when the band will be back in the bandshell, fundraising efforts for the rebuild have already begun .
