The new Patty Barnaby's name is all over the venue.
LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — A new but familiar space is opening for event rentals as The Venue at Skyline.
Patty Barnaby recently leased the former Skyline Country Club building at 405 South Main St. Barnaby used to attend events there, including holding her own "Jack and Jill" wedding shower.
"I've been to the golf tournaments. We've been to fundraisers. We've been to benefits. Actually, sports banquets for our girls, my oldest daughter. We had quite a few of her sports banquets here, just town events, truly, but our Jack and Jill was here," she said. "I had my stepfather's retirement party here, so, we've had a lot of events here as a family."
The golf course closed in 2021 after 58 years and sold to Mill Town Capital, which is using the course for a solar installation. The town's eyed the driving range for a new police station, and the club has been used intermittently, such as for the town's winter festival last year.
Barnaby is active in the community, including serving on the Lanesborough Community Development Committee. She enjoys hosting events and having get-togethers.
"I just have always loved to bring people together, like at our house, doing parties. And our house is very small, so it's always a big summer party," she said.
Barnaby wanted a place for people to host events that may be too big or busy for their homes, but also in an open and beautiful area.
"We need a space like this, not only in Lanesborough, for Lanesborough residents, but in general, for people to be able to come and have events, whether it be inside or outside when the weather permits," sshe said. "It's a beautiful spot, it really, truly is. And I didn't want to see it sit because it really is one of those staples in our town that everybody just knows."
Barnaby had indicated interest in the space after the Winter Festival. She signed the lease on Oct. 31 and has worked hard to make it her own.
She's painted, added new seating, redone the bathrooms, and some other cosmetics upgrades. She also added six televisions, more bar equipment, and will be adding a jukebox.
Barnaby kept the name Skyline because of the location's history and just added "The Venue" to make it her own.
"I just love this space. It is just one of those spaces that, like you don't want to see ever sit," she said.
The former pro shop will be turned into a thrift store. She currently sells clothes out of her house and hosting pop-up thrift events but is now excited to have a permanent space. It will have hours outside of events and will be listed on her social media page once it is ready.
Barnaby is asking that vendors should reach out so that she can compile a list for those who want to host events. She is also looking for a food vendor to sublease the space.
"I would love to have people reach out to me as I have reached out to them, to be put on a list of like vendors that we can suggest to people that are coming up for events," she said.
Barnaby said she'll help with planning at the location and that she wants to create a comfortable and joyous environment that people would like to come back to.
"It's family friendly, like I am very community-oriented and being very family oriented, so I understand when you're trying to plan a birthday party, or you just need a space, or you're trying to put little details together. I want to be able to help with that," she said.
"I want to make this a space that people feel comfortable coming into, where they can just walk in and just feel comfortable and not like they don't belong in a place, like we wanted to make this a very inviting space."
Barnaby has had help from her husband and friends the last couple of months to prepare for the opening. Her first event will be the Lanesborough Winter Festival. She currently has her entertainment license and is waiting for the liquor license from the state.
"I would just seriously love this, to just be a destination for people to want to come to like that, to me, is the biggest goal of people like I said, to just come here and enjoy the space that we have put a lot of our heart and soul and time into over the past three months. And we're proud of that, so it's a good feeling," she said.
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