Ground is being broken on an expansion of one of Clear Lake’s most historic sites, on what will be called The Surf Ballroom Music Enrichment & Immersive Center. It will include a visitors center, a gift shop, lesson studios, a conference space, and an exhibit area to showcase the ballroom’s significant contributions to music history.
Jeff Nicholas, with the North Iowa Cultural Center & Museum — which oversees the Surf, says the new facility will offer a great learning experience.
“It will inspire our youth not only to learn about the culture of our community, the culture of the Surf Ballroom, about the music, about all the friendships and all the relationships,” Nicholas says. “This place is bricks and mortar, but it’s so much more than that.”
City Administrator Scott Flory says the improvements with the center, as well as other improvements to the Surf area, will ensure the legacy of the ballroom remains relevant for many generations to come.
“We all know the Surf Ballroom has a very unique story to tell, and the new Music Enrichment & Immersive Center, the streetscape improvements that we are making here, are all things that are critical and pivotal for us to help continue to tell the story of the Surf Ballroom, a National Historic Landmark.”
Iowa Economic Development Authority director Debi Durham says the Surf’s mission is evolving, from one that celebrates the legacies of the musicians who have played there, but it also celebrates public art, the lake, and a hands-on learning experience that will inspire generations to come.
“It is game-changing for Clear Lake, and an incredibly successful story for Iowa,” Durham says. “What I love about this project is not just its potential, but its story of reinvention, creative thinking and partnership. You have this collective leadership with the community and the companies that came together around the Surf District.”
Rock-and-roll stars Ritchie Valens, Buddy Holly and “The Big Bopper” J. P. Richardson all died in a plane crash near Clear Lake in February of 1959 after playing a concert at the Surf. Connie Valens, Ritchie’s sister, says the center will give an opportunity to continue to teach and enrich future generations about what the Surf represents.
“The Enrichment Center, through the dedication of the teachers and students, will be at the heart of continuing the legacies of the three young men who changed rock-and-roll history and continue to inspire new generations of musicians.”
The rest of the Surf District project, which received a $4.37 million Destination Iowa grant, will include gateway and streetscape enhancements around and on Buddy Holly Place, and waterfront connections from the ballroom to the lakeshore. The Music Enrichment & Immersive Center recently was awarded an additional $400,000 Community Attraction and Tourism grant.
(By Bob Fisher, KRIB, Mason City)