Rock venue Irving Plaza is set to go quiet this summer for an eight-month renovation. The 150-year-old venue hosts its last scheduled show for the year on June 30—headlined by tropical band Guaco—before shutting down for work that is scheduled to last until next spring.
Live Nation, the concert hall’s operator, announced the planned renovations this week along with the Polish Army Veterans Association, which has owned the building since 1948.
The 3,300-square-foot hall was converted from a Polish-American community center into a concert venue in 1978. Since then, Irving Plaza’s marquee has listed big-name artists including Bob Dylan, the Foo Fighters, Radiohead and the Talking Heads. Paul McCartney played a surprise show there to a capacity crowd of about 1,000 on Valentine’s Day in 2015.
But, as some Yelp reviews document, concertgoers have complained about the venue’s narrow interior and a layout that makes it difficult to buy a drink or use the restroom without missing segments of the show.
Live Nation is promising that the venue will reopen with a revamped lobby, new bars, a downstairs VIP lounge and a remodeled mezzanine with a new configuration for box seats. A Live Nation spokesman said four new bathrooms are on the way as well.
Got a gripe about the neighborhood that maybe, just maybe, the city can try to fix?
The Union Square Partnership (which is our business improvement district) has come up with a sweeping five-point plan to help the neighborhood bounce back after COVID. Check it out.
Jeremiah’s Vanishing New York has a look back at the old Union Square Theater, which once stood on the site of the big (former) Virgin store building on 14th St. Interesting!
The annual meeting of shareholders will take place on June 6 at 7PM at the Seafarers and International House at 123 East 15th St., second floor.
After 48 long years, neighborhood stalwart Japonica has shuttered. Sad!
