Liberty Hall Is Open, and Star's Fall Calendar Now Runs Through One Address

The new building at Freedom Park looks like a barn on purpose. It has broad folding doors that open the main room onto the outdoor event space. Historic photos of Star are going up inside, and a replica Liberty Bell for the outside is still on its way from a foundry. Liberty Hall had its grand opening on Tuesday, Oct. 13, alongside Mayor Trevor Chadwick's State of the City address. KIVI reported that the speech took place at the "newly opened Liberty Hall."

Liberty Hall sits at 960 S. Main St., the same address the City of Star uses for the Star Riverhouse and the Riverhouse Pasture. The Veterans Garden is a few steps away. The city's two Halloween events are booked on that property, and its December holiday weekend is named for the Riverhouse. The site is also still unfinished, so it will look a little different at each event this season.

One Address, Several Places

The property is easier to understand as a cluster of separate spaces. Here is what currently shares 960 S. Main St.:

• The Star Riverhouse, whose backyard has hosted gatherings from the Veterans Garden dedication to the city's 2025 holiday tree lighting.
• The Riverhouse Pasture, where the city holds Trunk-or-Treat.
• The Veterans Garden at Freedom Park, dedicated in April 2026.
• Liberty Hall, the newest building, open since Oct. 13.

The Riverhouse has hosted community gatherings for some time. KIVI's State of the City coverage included a resident's account that Calvary Chapel Star first met there in June 2022, two weeks after he moved to town. Liberty Hall adds a second, larger room on the same grounds. The garden, pasture and both buildings now sit close together, so one event can easily spread across all of them.

What's Inside Liberty Hall

The city built the hall for community events, celebrations and city functions. According to KIVI's preview tour, it has:

• Space for large gatherings
• Video walls
• A camera system that can livestream events
• A warming kitchen with commercial refrigeration
• Storage areas
• Indoor-outdoor event space connected by large folding doors

The design draws on Star's past. Chadwick described the idea during that tour:

"We built it as like a barn, kind of to match some of the history of our city. You know, as being a farming community and stuff like that."

Historic photos of Star displayed throughout the building carry the same theme and are meant to connect the city's future with its past.

The hall holds up to 400 people, though city leaders said most events will be kept below that. Chadwick put the construction cost at close to $4.8 million and said the city paid for it without taking on bonded debt. Construction took more than a year. In April the building was still in its early stages.

If you hope to book the hall for a family celebration, you'll need to wait. As of early October, the city planned to use it for city events first while officials worked out the details of possible community rentals. For now, residents will see the inside of Liberty Hall at city-hosted events.

The Garden Came First

Before the hall opened, the Veterans Garden next to it set the tone for the site. According to KIVI's April report on the Freedom Park projects, the garden's grand opening was on Friday, April 17. The evening started in the backyard of the Riverhouse and then moved to the garden for a flag raising and a gun salute by the local American Legion.

Several details are worth seeing up close:

• A U.S. flag flown over the U.S. Capitol. Senator Jim Risch's office provided it, and it will fly permanently at the park.
• A dedication plaque from the Daughters of the American Revolution honoring the fight for independence from 1775 to 1783.
• A fountain with a "Hold the Line" plaque honoring people currently serving.
• A spruce tree grown from a seedling by a Star veteran, which was transplanted into the garden and will get a plaque recognizing his military service.

KIVI's April report presented the garden and the hall together as Freedom Park projects honoring veterans and America's history. The hall itself is tied to Star's America 250 celebration of the nation's 250th birthday. A visit to one now leads naturally to the other.

The Calendar From Here

The City of Star has four community events on the books between now and the first weekend of December. Three are listed at the Riverhouse or named for it, and the fourth has no venue posted yet:

1. Tuesday, Oct. 27, 6:30 to 8 p.m. The free teen Halloween Spooktacular, hosted with HALO, at the Star Riverhouse. It includes a costume contest and pumpkin carving.
2. Saturday, Oct. 31, 3 to 5 p.m. Trunk-or-Treat at the Riverhouse Pasture, with candy, a costume contest, bounce houses, children's activities and food trucks.
3. Friday, Nov. 6. The city's Veterans Day Potato Feed. The calendar lists it as an all-day event in Star but hasn't posted a venue, time or program, so check the City of Star calendar closer to the date.
4. Saturday, Dec. 5 and Sunday, Dec. 6. Christmas at the Riverhouse. The 2026 listing shows the dates but not the program. Last year's event included s'mores, "reindeer" ponies, live carols, cookies and cocoa, Santa, and a community tree lighting at 6:30 p.m. in the Riverhouse backyard.

The Halloween events and the December weekend are the first city celebrations held since Liberty Hall opened. Until the city publishes programs, it's not clear how each will use the new building. Still, a hall with a warming kitchen and folding doors onto the outdoor space is now right beside the pasture, the garden and the Riverhouse backyard.

Pieces Still Arriving

Three parts of the Liberty Hall project are still in progress. Each is something residents can watch for, and two invite residents to take part.

The Liberty Bell replica. A Pennsylvania foundry is casting a replica Liberty Bell for the outside of the hall. As of early October, it was expected to arrive later this year. Chadwick said it will match the original exactly, crack included.

The time capsule. The hall has a designated space where neighbors can add photos and other items. Once the capsule is sealed, it stays closed for 50 years. Chadwick made the timeline personal when he spoke to KIVI:

"The goal is to make it to the 300th birthday of the United States. I won't be around for that. If I am, I'll be 105, and that'll be a miracle if I make it that long."

The city also gathered items for the capsule during this year's Fourth of July celebrations. The city's America250 in Star page is the place to check for contribution details.

The mural. In KIVI's April report, Chadwick described a large art piece for the hall, an eagle and a flag built from individual squares, each painted by different people in the community.

These three pieces explain why the site will keep changing through the season. Someone who visits for Trunk-or-Treat may come back in December to find a bell out front or new squares on the mural.

Getting There This Season

Driving to Freedom Park this fall and winter will also be shaped by work outside the park. In his State of the City address, Chadwick highlighted improvements along Highway 44, Star Road and Pollard Road. For the Oct. 31 afternoon and the Dec. 5 and 6 weekend, allow some extra time to reach South Main Street and find a spot near the Riverhouse Pasture.

As a Treasure Valley broker, I watch how public places like Freedom Park shape daily life in a town, and Liberty Hall is one of the more meaningful additions Star has made in years. If you'd like to talk about what Star's growing civic center means for your own plans, whether you're settling in or thinking ahead, Elizabeth Hume is glad to help. Let's Connect.