SARANAC LAKE — A new concert series is coming to the Saranac Lake Civic Center this summer, with the rock band Hinder kicking it off on July 19.

Christine Collins — a Saranac Lake native who started her career in the music industry at age 14, booking shows for teens here in town — is organizing the series. She’s hoping the concerts will give a boost to the Saranac Lake economy and music scene, and give local kids an inspiration for a career.

Hinder, best known for their 2006 hit “Lips of an Angel,” will be headlining the first of four concerts at the Civic Center on July 19. Tickets for the all-ages concert start at $45 for general admission and can be found at mountainviewpaf.com.

The opening act will be announced soon, she said. The bands for the next three shows are under contract and will be announced in the future.

Collins said people keep asking her if the concert series is real. It is, and she’s proud to see “Saranac Lake” listed alongside cities around the country on the band’s official tour poster.

A Hinder show is a “lot of fun,” she said. She’s worked with them in the past and said they’re great group on and off stage.

Last fall, Collins and local Bob Farmer attempted to turn Farmer’s field off McKenzie Pond Road, near the village’s former landfill, into an event space and venue. But the village rejected the proposed zoning code change that would have allowed the project after neighbors raised concerns.

It was disheartening to be met with resistance, Collins said, but she and Farmer came away from those meetings still wanting to do something. She isn’t going to give up on bringing music to her hometown, she said.

“I did say I would be back and I wasn’t done,” Collins said. “In the back of my mind there’s always been a ‘plan B.’ In fact I think I’ve already gone to ‘plan G.'”

They started looking for what they could use their Mountain View Productions company for.

The Civic Center recently had a multi-million dollar renovation ahead of the 2023 World University Games. Collins and Farmer started talking with SLCC Rink Manager Matt Wolter and the “stars aligned.”

Collins said the warm months are a slower season for the Civic Center without its main use of providing ice for skating, hockey and curling. The building is a great community space and they’re excited to use it and support it, she added.

She estimates the facility has a capacity of around 1,500 people for concerts.

Collins said she’s spoken with the neighbors of the Civic Center about the concerts. She’s promising safe, smooth and well-organized events. She has years of experience in concert planning with the parking, security and safety that comes with large-scale events.

Collins said her passion for supporting music started in a “former meat locker,” organizing punk shows for the The Getaway Youth Center, the predecessor to the Saranac Lake Youth Center. She started booking shows at the age of 14, finding a passion which she credits with keeping her away from the addictions that plagued her family, and with launching her life path.

“If you teach a kid to love gear, they won’t have money for drugs,” she said with a laugh.

Collins credited then-Director Jamie Armstrong with believing in her and giving her the motivation and freedom to do what she loved and recalled Armstrong giving her colorful paper to print posters on, which she hung up in the school hallways.

“It was a sense of self that I could share with others,” she said.

Collins moved away, got a degree in the field and started a career doing what she loves. Now, she’s using the skills she learned here to bring bands to town. And she wants to pass it on.

Collins is hoping to have education opportunities for local kids interested in the music business. It’s not just musicians. There are tons of jobs in sound tech, management, marketing and engineering surrounding the music industry, she said, and she hopes to introduce interested students to the experts in the field coming to Saranac Lake this summer.