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Joint venture between Red Sox, Live Nation will run House of Blues and new Fenway theater
By adamg on Sun, 02/24/2019 - 2:30pm
Architect's rendering.
The Red Sox last week filed their formal plans for a four-level performing-arts theater behind the Fenway Park outfield that can hold up to 5,400 patrons at once.
The plans also show the loss of about 450 bleacher seats in Fenway Park itself, to make way for tables and "expanded food, beverage and restroom areas," as well as a new function room able to hold 500 to 600 people, depending on whether or not they are all standing.
The Sox say they've formed a joint venture with Live Nation, which owns the House of Blues down Lansdowne Street, to run both the new theater and the House of Blues. The House of Blues can hold up to 2,500 people.
This relationship will ensure that scheduling of events planned for the two venues will be closely coordinated.
The theater, on a triangular piece of land at Lansdowne and Ipswich streets now used mainly for parking, but once home to a large laundry that cleaned sheets from nearby hospitals, would do more than just rock out when the Sox are out, the team says:
The Fenway Theater will also create new opportunities for performing arts programming and educational initiatives, establishing a world-class performing arts center located just steps away from the Boston Arts Academy, Berklee College of Music
and Boston Conservatory at Berklee, as well as many other schools and arts programs located in the greater Boston area. It is expected that thousands of students and performers will have the opportunity to perform in this new venue, pursue employment and internships, engage in professional development and educational programs, and enjoy live performances as both performers and audience members.
The venue will have no on-site parking, but will instead develop a "transportation demand management" plan to encourage workers and patrons to take public transportation.
The Sox hope to begin construction this fall - after the end of the Sox season, with completion scheduled for the summer or fall of 2021.
18-28 Lansdowne St. project-notification form (19.1M PDF).
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Comments
No parking. No traffic study.
No parking. No traffic study. Increase demand on public transportation. Sounds like a great idea.
probably
Probably good for the nearby colleges, not good for the Orpheum. Do college students go to the movies or do they netflix and chill?
Ummmm the orpheum?
Obviously you don’t know the people who run the venues in this city. If you did you’d know that the orpheum has been a live nation run venue for years and years.
Still not necessarily good for the Orpheum
I realize Live Nation will run the live music at both venues but the Orpheum isn't owned by Live Nations.
Drucker Realty Company owns the venue itself. If LN moved all bookings to the new venue that could be bad indeed for the landlords.
lolol
lolololol @ the Orpheum comment. shout out to don law
*eyeroll*
It's next to bizillions of other bars and nightclubs and restaurants and a movie theatre and a ballpark. I think everyone will be just fine.
Math can be fun and informative
Which number is bigger, 37,755 or 4500?
The first number is the capacity of Fenway Park during a night game, which is what, 60 games a year? I think that the neighborhood can handle 33000 less people on a night when there's not a game.
90 night/year
When you include the concerts at fenway and possible postseason games.
Fenway Park and New theater
The Red Sox play 81, not 60, home games every year. That number has remained the same for at least 20 years.
Sounds good to me!
More of this, please.
Geez, if they just got rid of that pesky ballpark...
Just imagine how much room there might be for people to store their cars!
there's a ton of parking
there's a ton of parking around there and ample public transit because idk if you know this but there's a professional baseball team that plays there.
and boy let me tell you there are PLENTY of traffic studies around that area
The people who are making a
The people who are making a mess of this city won't be here to deal with the problems they create.
I mean, yes but who do you mean?
Who we talking about here?
Marty Walsh? Developers? Hacks like Flynn and Collins? the MBTA leadership?
Fenway NIMBYs licking their
Fenway NIMBYs licking their chops
Fenway rezoned itself in 2004
Fenway rezoned itself in 2004 through a massive consensus based community process to allow for major development. It's the least NIMBY neighborhood in the city as long as projects comply with the zoning.
as long as projects comply
aka NIMBY
demanding adherence to zoning
demanding adherence to zoning isn't NIMBYism in itself - it's creating zoning that's super unreasonable, that your own house doesn't even adhere to, in the interest of limiting development and keeping things unchanging, and then demanding people adhere to the zoning, that's the hallmark of NIMBY bullshit.
if the fenway corridor has zoning allowing for size appropriate and dense development - and I think they have because that area has BLOWN UP with few of the same long drawn out dragging arguments reported on this site for southie, etc - then it's reasonable for the neighbors to expect everyone to follow it.
FIX TRANSPORTATION FIRST
FIX TRANSPORTATION FIRST BEFORE ANYTHING ELSE GETS BUILT AGAIN. Hello? Anybody there? hello? MBTA is a mess, Charlie and Marty. Traffic is a mess. We need help.
Fenway is not owned by the
Fenway is not owned by the state, if anything this would bring in more taxes for the state.
The MBTA is a state
The MBTA is a state organization.
Not a lot that two private companies (or the Mayor) can do.
Why
Why would they remove seats when Fenway is already in the bottom five in seating capacity in the MLB? This is just dumb, they just won another World Series and want to remove 450 seats.
Backdoor plan to add revenue without sharing with MLB
Movies? Is it billed as a movie theater or just live acts? Either way, this is obviously a backdoor way of the avaricious Red Sox adding "capacity" without needing to share the new revenue with MLB. When the performing arts don't materialize, the Fenway Group (not the team itself) will sell some type of "Game Day Experience" that features the latest in TV and audio, with all of the concessions and amenities of a SuperLux theater. Think of it as a sports bar on steroids. Knowing this group, there will probably be packages where you can walk on the field after the game or shake hands with Jerry Remy and Wally (for a modest fee.)
With the ballpark inches away, folks will get all of the pre/post game atmosphere at a fraction of the cost of game tickets and the Red Sox won't have to share. In fact, they can claim they lost 450 seats! While the idea of the Metropolitan Opera sounds nice, I doubt it would be sustainable. Don't believe there is any philanthropy involved here.
I know you must miss the Yawkeys
Seeing as they were unreformed racists and all, but buddy, it's over. Accept that we know have an ownership group with a proven commitment to winning championships and enjoy the ride.
"unreformed racists"
Say what now? How so?
Say what now? How so?
http://bfy.tw/MTUW
Remember when they renamed Yawkey Way?
Did you think that was just as a prank or something?
No
I thought it was bullshit based on unsubstantiated claims of Yawkey uttering a racists comment at Jackie Robinson, when others said Yawkey wasn't even in the building. I also read stories about Tom Yawkey going above and beyond to help black players buy houses, and send their kids to school.
Aside from that, I also have NEVER heard anyone say Jean Yawkey was racist, at all.
I think it had more to do
I think it had more to do with the fact that Yawkey's general manager was an unabashed racist and the Sox didn't field a black player until Jackie Robinson had been retired for three years, but you do you.
Oh please
14 years to sign a black player after Robinson broke through? Game, set, match - racist.
Game-Day Experience
is what they will be selling, and it is not unique.
I recently read that the arena for the Golden State Warriors (Oracle Arena) sells admission to the arena on game days, where you can buy concessions and hobnob with other fans, but you are not able to enter the seating bowl. https://www.si.com/nba/2018/11/12/warriors-home-games-oracle-arena-month...
TD Garden will also offer something similar to this after the upcoming renovations so you can enter the arena and hang out in the new bars and "fan experiences" that will be in the concourse areas, but does not include admittance to the seating bowl.
An interesting trend to be sure, but don't lose your ticket stub at the arena.
This is...
...what's wrong with professional sports today: people who care about the game being crowded out by pink-shirts and pink-hats who are after "the game day experience" but don't care about the game.
Opera House!
Opera House. A world class Opera House in Boston/Cambridge ! https://www.google.com/search?q=opera+house&tbm=isch
The decline of Metropolitan Opera productions is an opportunity for Boston Conservatory at BerkLee https://bostonconservatory.berklee.edu/vocal-pedagogy New England Conservatory https://necmusic.edu/voice-opera Harvard College Opera http://harvardcollegeopera.com/ Harvard Lowell House Opera http://lowellhouseopera.com/ and so forth.
New England Conservatory
They cancelled the last performance of "Marriage of Figaro" on February 12 because of "severe weather conditions." It will be a while before I will go back to one of their performances again. I doubt the Met would cancel over 2 inches of snow.
berklee canceled school that
berklee canceled school that day too
If you are talking real
If you are talking real estate, then this is the man :
Rabbi: Storied Boston landlord Harold Brown dies
Harold Brown, the storied Boston landlord who turned one small apartment building into a sprawling real estate empire, has died, according to his rabbi. He was 94.
Brown, who retired from his position atop Hamilton Co. at age 93 last year, amassed billions of dollars worth of Boston-area property over more than six decades in the real estate business and created a charitable foundation that gave to local causes.
https://www.bostonherald.com/2019/02/24/rabbi-storied-boston-landlord-ha...
just another brick in the
just another brick in the wall, a piece of the puzzle of the deck between Lansdowne street and Kenmore Square. The march up Lansdowne , there will be an entertainment district anchored by the Green Wall extending over the Pike to Kenmore, a more spiffy Faneuil Hall type deal , jammed pack with commercial outlets , maybe even a Galloping Gourmet headquarters too! We have come a long way from the hot dog .
Fenway Theater - Google is going to be really confused now
A bit OT, but if you search for Regal Fenway, Google's sidebar contains a link to the original Fenway Theatre, which is now Berklee Performance Center
(this is the text on the sidebar, allegedly about Regal)
The Fenway Theatre of Boston, Massachusetts, was a cinema and concert hall in the Back Bay, located at no.136 Massachusetts Avenue at Boylston Street. Architect Thomas W. Lamb designed the building; its interior was "marble and velvet." The auditorium sat 1,600.
It even has a link to architect for original Fenway Theatre who has nothing to do with Landmark Center
They are going to be extra confused with a new Fenway Theater (maybe the whole -er vs -re will help)
If there's any subterfuge its the Fenway Sports Book
Fenway Inc. --might just be planning the Fenway Theatre to become the Fenway Sports Book
Once all all restrictions on live sports bets are removed. Viola!!
During baseball season you can sit in virtual Fenway -- with the sound piped in along with 4D AR/VR
You stand on the virtual mound place your bet and then wait for the outcome of the pitch -- is it:
The action occurs and you win or lose accordingly -- its the ultimate gambling palace
Of course the same can be done for the Celtics, Bruins, Revs, or Patriots -- as well as Flying Drones, Running, Jumping, Cycling, Forge of Empires, etc., ... Well you pick one or possibly you can spend an entire day betting
Man U soccer in the morning, Horses in the middle of the day, Red Sox in evening and possibly a Boxing Match from Vegas for a chaser
Live feeds from venues around the world in addition to 82+ times right next door live baseball
You're a visionary
I definitely saw a bigger picture that just live music but this is brilliant.
Even stepping it back a notch: sell tickets to playoff games and geet the awesome AV experience next door and even hear the crowd and you get game day exoperience.
Even just Yankees games or others that sell out.
Sox just added 5K "seats" to the ballpark. Plenty of people/corps won't care if you're not in the park..