Hastings’ Chautauqua Pavilion traces roots to 1886 gift to city

HASTINGS, Neb. (KOLN) - The Chautauqua Pavilion at Chautauqua Park is a beautiful building, and it’s been a part of the Hastings landscape for well over a century.

We caught up with Curtis Gosser to learn more about the structure during a concert by the Hastings Symphony Orchestra. Gosser is the Curator of Exhibits at the Hastings Museum.

The park was given to the city of Hastings as a Christmas present in 1886, Gosser said.

“So the park itself was actually a Christmas present to the city of Hastings almost 140 years ago in 1886,” Gosser said.

Mr. and Mrs. Crane gave the park to the city, according to Gosser. The couple had homesteaded the area and wanted to give back to the community after years of farming there.

The park was originally called Prospect Park. It was renamed Chautauqua Park after the historic Chautauqua events held there, Gosser said.

Hastings hosted its first Chautauqua in 1906.

“It was a 10-day event, kind of like a religious revival with a lot of educational elements to it and musical programs in the evening,” Gosser said. “People made it into a whole vacation. It was their summer vacation to come up to Hastings, and camp out at the park. You would rent a tent, you could have groceries delivered to your tent, and then you just stayed the whole week and watched all these performances,” Gosser said.

The first Chautauqua drew about 8,000 people, and specially chartered trains brought attendees to Hastings, Gosser said.

Following the event’s success, the Hastings Chautauqua Association reached an agreement with the city to build a permanent structure that the city could use year-round, according to Gosser.

The pavilion measures 121 by 151 feet and is supported by lattice columns around the exterior, Gosser said.

“The interior of the building doesn’t have any support structure. So there’s no nothing blocking your view of performances or having gatherings or anything like that,” Gosser said.

The pavilion is used today for picnics and family gatherings. The Hastings Symphony Orchestra uses it once a year for its opening concert each season, Gosser said.

“The structure you see is mostly the original structure. But in the 1990s, there was an arson that started it on fire,” Gosser said. “After the city learned about the fire, the next day, people flooded the newspaper and swamped city officials with requests to rebuild,” Gosser said.

The upper third of the structure was demolished and rebuilt.

“In the end, you have a very similar looking structure, almost identical to the original that was here in 1906,” Gosser said.

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