These Muhlenberg alumni are launching two creative ventures — a makerspace and a small live music venue — in a Pennsylvania town that’s zoned for the arts.
In 2021, Delaware County’s Aston Township worked with the state of Pennsylvania to rezone the entire old mill town of Rockdale as an arts district. Now, Mike Gaydos ’06 (above left), a music major who works in marketing, and his wife, Jill Diamond ’06, a theatre major who works in recruiting, are spearheading two projects there: a makerspace in a 175-year-old church called Mill Works Creator Space and a concert venue in an old industrial complex called The Mill at Rockdale. Their business partner, Jared Loss (above right), operates a music school in the same building as The Mill; coincidentally, fellow Mule Stacey Ballard ’88 is the landlord. The venue is set to launch in January, with the creator space, which is already being used, officially launching later next year.
A rendering of The Mill at Rockdale
Why did you want to open a music venue?
Mike Gaydos ’06: The pandemic was really tough on music venues, and we’re pushing to foster a return to seeing music live. I’m a lifelong musician, as is [Jared]. My wife has a background in theatre, and we’ve always wanted to promote that community. This specific location is in a beautiful spot along the creek and it has great bones. We don’t need to spend a lot of time crafting the aesthetic. Ultimately, we want to have an open-access venue for community performances, regional acts, anybody on the way up or the way down, anybody who wants to stop by and play. We’re going to do concerts for 250 to 400 people.
A portion of the Mill Works Creator Space
How did the creator space come about?
MG: An artist who had been working in a church from 1850 was moving out of town. He had offers from a couple developers, but he wanted to keep it in the hands of somebody who was going to use it for something creative. While we were doing this music venue, we added this project. We’re in an agreement to buy the building, but it’s up and running. [The artist] had built a woodshop in the basement, and we have a woodworking artist who will become our anchor tenant. We have people coming in to cut vinyl signs. We do large-format printing. We have a giant laser cutter. Our intention is to have an open arts community, a place you can buy credits to if you need particular machinery. We also want to add more anchor tenants, five or six artists with their own businesses.
“Since we both have other businesses, our intention is to build this within the artistic community that’s already established and then have others contribute as much as possible. The younger folks who have better ears to the ground on artists, on events, they can pitch to us and run with it.”
What’s your ultimate goal for the music venue?
MG: [Jared’s] background is in tourism and hospitality, so he is great at organizing spaces and figuring out how best to get people in and entertain them. My side of it has been the marketing side. How do we get systems in place to push our message out? How do we go to businesses and get their support? Since we both have other businesses, our intention is to build this within the artistic community that’s already established and then have others contribute as much as possible. The younger folks who have better ears to the ground on artists, on events, they can pitch to us and run with it.
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