The Somerville Media Center opened its doors to the community Wednesday in a new location in Ward 2 in an event filled with officials, residents and members of the SMC who use its television, video and podcast equipment.
Before a formal ribbon cutting and remarks at the evening’s grand opening came a social hour, in which members mingled, peeked at the 4,800 square feet of amenities and enjoyed hors d’oeuvres and an open bar.
The more than 100 guests were in good spirits about the new center, but it was not a quick road to get here. The previous center in Union Square closed its doors in August 2023, leaving a city-owned property that was declared unsafe. The center worked out of temporary space on the Somernova business campus until December, when the new location within Somernova at 29 Properzi Way opened to members.
The grand opening speeches began with thanks – to board members and elected officials at the event, including four mayors, a state senator, two state representatives and six city councilors – by Joe Lynch, president of the center’s board of directors.
“I’m so happy all of you could join us tonight as we celebrate this milestone,” Lynch said. “The Somerville Media Center: Where we are all equal, but definitely not the same.”
Lynch noted the political changes coming out of the Trump administration and how the center’s mission to support the community will continue. “I’ll make this pledge to all of you and to Somerville tonight,” he said. “No matter who you are, whether you’re a member of the persons with disabilities community, the LGBTQ+ community, the immigrant community, the Bipoc community, we will protect you.”
Following applause from the audience, Lynch introduced SMC’s executive director, Sean Effel. He started as a projects manager in March, just after executive director Kat Powers left. It was announced in July that Effel was the new executive director and would begin official work in the role in September.
“My job is to introduce our mayor, who comes from a long line of mayors who’ve been supportive of our organization and our work here,” Effel said.
Mayor Katjana Ballantyne took the stage to say a few words and lead a ribbon cutting that “marks not just a change in address, but a continuation of SMC’s [work] in our city,” she said. “A legacy of storytelling, community building and ensuring that everyone in Somerville has a platform to be heard.”
“We know that independent media is an essential part of vibrant democracy, and that local storytelling connects us, informs us and brings us together in ways that no other platform can,” Ballantyne said.
The board, members of SMC and children lined up to take pictures with the mayor and cut the ribbon. Official tours of the building took place after until the event wrapped up around 9 p.m.
The new center is “everything we wanted: a new studio, new production equipment,” said Mike McAuley, an SMC member, in an interview.
Unhappiness in the interim
But McAuley said he and other members have been unhappy about the 16 months between permanent locations, the time it took to fill the executive director position and how the board managed bylaws and its own vacancies.
They wanted to do something about the decline of the center over the past two years and expressed their discontent to the board in an April letter about member voting rights, he said. Since then, the board proposed substantial changes to bylaws, prompting objections by McAuley to the board and City of Somerville in September. He received no response for either.
“I’m not getting anywhere with elected representatives or the Mayor’s Office,” he said. “I think they’re in violation of their contract with the city. I don’t think they’re following their bylaws. I don’t feel like any of that has been resolved. They just moved forward and had some leadership changes.”
The interim space, meanwhile, felt unwelcoming. “It was really tough for membership, because it was a temporary space,” McAuley said. “It was half the space that we had before, there were no recording studios. There was a lot of loss of membership and revenue.”
Moving forward
With the additional space and equipment of the new headquarters, McAuley expressed a willingness to move forward.
Lynch said after the grand opening that the time it took to relocate and fill the executive director position, while not ideal, was normal for organization of the SMC’s size and complexity.
Though the opening was not a fundraiser, he noted, many attendees wrote checks for the new media center.
“When you get unsolicited donations, it makes you feel pretty good,” Lynch said. “The opening was vibrant.”
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