The Columbia Park Band Shell is located just across the railroad tracks from the

Marshfield Central Avenue Historic District The Marshfield Central Avenue Historic District is part of the old downtown of Marshfield, Wisconsin. The original wooden downtown burned in a huge fire in 1887. Some of the brick buildings built immediately after the fire still stand - especia ...

Marshfield, Wisconsin Marshfield is a city in northwest Wood and southwest Marathon counties in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It is located at the intersection of U.S. Highway 10, Highway 13 and Highway 97. The largest city in Wood County, its population was 18,929 at ...

. The band shell was built in 1931 as a local make-work project similar to those pursued by many rural Wisconsin communities during the Great Depression. Its weekly summer band concerts continue to provide a source of free, local entertainment. The band shell was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artist ...

in 2008. With

Northside City Park

The block on which the band shell now sits was donated to the city by Samuel Marsh in 1875 to be developed into a park. The land sat idle until the 1890s, when freshly-logged land in the area was being settled by farmers. The subsequent arrival of manufacturers attracted laborers, and the growing population prompted the city to develop a central water supply: a 120-foot steel

standpipe Standpipe may refer to: * Standpipe (firefighting), a rigid vertical or horizontal pipe to which fire hoses can be connected * Standpipe (street), an external freestanding pipe to provide running water in areas with no other water supply * Standpi ...

in the center of the park block. Meanwhile, St John's Roman Catholic church was being built on the block north of the park. The church and park's proximity are thought to have bolstered concurrent development. In 1903, a wooden, Victorian-style

bandstand A bandstand (sometimes music kiosk) is a circular, semicircular or polygonal structure set in a park, garden, pier, or indoor space, designed to accommodate musical bands performing concerts. A simple construction, it both creates an orname ...

was built on the east side of the park to host the summer concerts of Marshfield's 135th Medical Regiment Band. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, this regiment carried the wounded from the front lines to medics. In the years after the war, the 135th's twelve-concert summer seasons at the bandstand remained immensely popular.

Band Shell

In 1926, a city engineer deemed the wooden bandstand structurally unsound and recommended its demolition. The summer concerts continued, albeit with the band and spectators level on the lawn. In 1929, plans for a new facility ground to a halt as the nation reeled from the

Wall Street Crash The Wall Street Crash of 1929, also known as the Great Crash, was a major American stock market crash that occurred in the autumn of 1929. It started in September and ended late in October, when share prices on the New York Stock Exchange colla ...

. After a series of designs and bids and the removal of the standpipe, construction of the final brick band shell began in 1931. City leaders managed the shell's construction as a

public works project Public works are a broad category of infrastructure projects, financed and constructed by the government, for recreational, employment, and health and safety uses in the greater community. They include public buildings ( municipal buildings, sc ...

aimed at employing local men displaced from their jobs by the Depression. The city also accepted an offer from the Marshfield Brick Company to supply bricks at a reduced price of ten dollars per thousand. The dome-shaped ceiling of the new band shell, an idea borrowed from indoor theaters to improve acoustics, afforded a more focused, amplified sound. This allowed the band to expand their repertoire beyond marches to more sensitive, nuanced compositions. Supported by a concrete foundation, the rectilinear exterior structure is covered in horizontal brick. Two

pilaster In classical architecture, a pilaster is an architectural element used to give the appearance of a supporting column and to articulate an extent of wall, with only an ornamental function. It consists of a flat surface raised from the main wal ...

s frame the stage, laid in vertical bricks and topped with stone panels carved with crossed trumpets and drums. Inside, the shell is composed of cedar and

redwood Sequoioideae, popularly known as redwoods, is a subfamily of coniferous trees within the family Cupressaceae. It includes the largest and tallest trees in the world. Description The three redwood subfamily genera are '' Sequoia'' from coas ...

with two storage rooms and two rear-access rest rooms.

Legacy

The shell's inaugural concert in the summer of 1931 was reportedly attended by over 3,000 community members. The program included marches sprinkled with lighter fare such as the overture from "

The Barber of Seville ''The Barber of Seville, or The Useless Precaution'' ( it, Il barbiere di Siviglia, ossia L'inutile precauzione ) is an '' opera buffa'' in two acts composed by Gioachino Rossini with an Italian libretto by Cesare Sterbini. The libretto was b ...

." A column in the News Herald reflected that “Men, women and children cannot live on bread alone. The band concerts where all meet on an equal basis furnishes something besides bread, but nevertheless, decidedly necessary.” These free weekly concerts provided Depression-wearied families with access to free entertainment and an escape from the stress of daily life. Ninety years later, the Marshfield Civic Band still performs free concerts on Wednesday evenings in summer, with the audience circled around on wood benches under the trees. The band shell has served purposes beyond musical entertainment. In 1932, some 6,000 local farmers rallied at the band shell as part of a nationwide strike, demanding increased produce prices that reflected the cost of production. In 2020, the park hosted a student event promoting

Black Lives Matter Black Lives Matter (abbreviated BLM) is a decentralized political and social movement that seeks to highlight racism, discrimination, and racial inequality experienced by black people. Its primary concerns are incidents of police brut ...

and an outdoor graduation.

References

{{National Register of Historic Places Buildings and structures completed in 1931 National Register of Historic Places in Wood County, Wisconsin Art Deco architecture in Wisconsin Bandstands in the United States Music venues completed in 1931 Music venues in Wisconsin Event venues on the National Register of Historic Places in Wisconsin