Club Passim Celebrates 40th Anniversary With Expansion

After forty years as a traditional folk club and restaurant, Harvard Square's Club Passim is striving to become a one-stop acoustic superstore, complete with musical lessons, historical archives and a multicultural arts program.

The new programs--which will be unveiled over the next several years--comprise the biggest change for the club in its history, according to the club's executive director Betsy Siggins.

With the expansion of Club Passim's programs will come an expansion of its space. Harvard Planning and Real Estate (HPRE), which owns the club's building at 47 Palmer Street, will allow the club to expand into new office areas on the third floor.

The new space will allow Passim to initiate three separate programs--multicultural events for children, a series of music lessons and an archival display of the club's history.

One of the new events, "Culture for Kids", which is slated to begin next year, will treat kids to ethnic foods and art workshops, and feature an ethnic lunch for adults picking up their children from the event.

Siggins said the club also hopes to offer music classes, including paid lessons for adults, and free ones for kids whose schools no longer provide such programs.

The club is also collecting photographs, recordings and personal memorabilia from the hundreds of artists who have passed through the club and others like them.

"Many people are looking for a place to give their collections back to, and the club becomes this natural repository for a very rich history," Siggins said.

When the archives are made public next winter, she said, they will make Passim a musical resource unlike any other in New England.

"This is a way to honor the people and music that has come through the club," Siggins added.

Passim's new agenda is still waiting on funding.

Because the club is a non-profit organization, Siggins is trying to raise about $100,000 from foundations, corporations and individuals to get the three new programs off the ground.

"If I can raise a hundred thousand dollars in the next year, I'll be able to have them all up and running," Siggins said. "I can do them as we receive funding for them. It is my hope that the community will support these programs."

The basement area of Passim will still be devoted to live acoustic music, particularly folk performances.