GREENFIELD — The 120-year-old Roundhouse at the entrance to the Franklin County Fairgrounds has been a theater, an art gallery and an agricultural contest hall. This fall, it seemed to Michael Nelson like something else — a haunted house.
The Franklin County Fair, normally held in September, was canceled this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This weekend would have ordinarily been the Great Falls Festival, which is estimated to draw 10,000 people to downtown Turners Falls each year; it also had to be canceled.
Nelson, who has organizational roles in both of those yearly events, thought to hold some kind of pandemic-appropriate Halloween event, partly as a replacement for the festivities that would normally be happening at this time of year.
“I had this realization that (the Roundhouse) was a perfect place to have some sort of event in it, and to try to do some sort of Halloween gathering for the community,” Nelson said.
So, Friday through Sunday, the Roundhouse was turned into a family-friendly haunted house, with one-way traffic from entrance to exit, and trick-or-treating stations throughout. In the central ring of the Roundhouse, there were 193 carved pumpkins, donated by local farms.
The haunted house, which charged $2 admission, was also a fundraiser to help with damage the fairgrounds suffered during a storm earlier this month.
The fairgrounds lost several trees in the storm, utility poles were damaged and an information booth was destroyed, Nelson said. It is estimated to be around $50,000 worth of damage, and it is not yet known how much may be covered by insurance, he said.
About 1,000 people were estimated to have visited the haunted house over the three days. Keeping with pandemic-related safety restrictions, the number of people inside the Roundhouse was limited, and visitors were encouraged to register ahead of time.
Cleanup of the storm damage is already moving ahead. After the storm, volunteers helped remove the fallen trees, Nelson said. And the damaged utility poles and wiring are set to be repaired with help from the Franklin County Technical School.
“Fortunately, we’ve had an incredible amount of outpouring of support from the community,” Nelson said.
Reach Max Marcus at mmarcus@recorder.com or 413-930-4231.