Janice Brooks
From:
Pleasant Gap Pa
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Posted 10 May 2007 8:20 am |
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Wheeling's landmark Capitol Music Hall faces closure
Thursday, May 10, 2007
By Cindi Lash, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
WHEELING, W.Va. -- Johnny Cash, Loretta Lynn and a host of other
country music
luminaries walked under its illuminated red marquee, strolled through
its Art
Deco lobby
and sang to fans who packed its ornate balconies.
The lights likely will remain out at the Capitol Music Hall in
Wheeling after a
May 18
symphony performance.
Charley Pride drew so many people in the 1960s that the line choked
intersections for
blocks. Classical musicians, pop stars, theater troupes and tutued
girls making
dance-
recital debuts took turns on its stage.
Nearly 80 years after opening its brass-trimmed doors, the Capitol
Music Hall --
West
Virginia's largest, most famous and arguably most beautiful theater --
is for
sale and on
the verge of closing.
A brief reprieve brokered by Gov. Joe Manchin III and Wheeling Mayor
Nicholas
Sparachane
is expected to keep the historic hall open long enough for the
Wheeling Symphony
Orchestra to hold the final concert of its Masterworks series May 18.
But that likely will be the final event under the Capitol's current
ownership,
concert
promoter Live Nation, which opted to close it rather than address a
flurry of
fire code
violations. A bluegrass show scheduled tomorrow, with guitarist Tony
Rice and
Alison
Krauss & Union Station featuring dobro artist Jerry Douglas, has been
moved to
Mellon
Arena in Pittsburgh.
The closing has prompted Wheeling government and business leaders to
step up
meetings
and draft a plan to buy, restore and operate the downtown landmark
that helped
to ensure
Wheeling's place on the national stage. To do that, however, they may
need to
come up
with as much as $3 million.
"It's drawing the community together from every walk of life," said
Susan C.
Hogan,
executive director of the symphony, which must find a new home while
the Capitol
is
closed. "We're all rooting [to keep it] for the country-western stars,
the
symphony, the
dance programs, the schools that have their Christmas shows there."
The faded but stately theater, which opened in 1928 in the heart of
Wheeling's
Main Street
business district, houses a 2,450-seat auditorium, recording studio,
ballroom
and shop. It
also is home to famed radio station WWVA-AM and five other Clear
Channel-owned
stations.
Outside, its marquee shields a walkway of embedded stars engraved with
the names
of
country legends -- Cash, Haggard, Wynette, and the Joneses, Grandpa
and George
-- for
whom the hall was a can't-miss tour date.
For more than 35 years, the Capitol also was the home of WWVA's
Jamboree USA
music
shows and broadcasts, which drew throngs of star-struck country buffs
from
around the
Tri-State area each Saturday night and entertained listeners around
the country
who
picked up the station's mighty 50,000-watt signal.
But in recent years, the Capitol's luster declined. The Jamboree
shifted focus
to the huge
summer "Jamboree in the Hills" festival and some artists sought
larger, more
lucrative
venues, city and business officials said.
Fewer events were held and fewer repairs made on the Capitol, which
had been
owned by
Clear Channel before it was sold last year to Clear Channel spin-off
Live
Nation, officials
said. As Jamboree shows dwindled and stopped last year, city leaders
and civic
organizations began brainstorming about buying, refurbishing and
running the
hall, Mr.
Sparachane said.
That consortium, which included the Wheeling Convention and Visitors
Bureau,
National
Heritage Corp. and Regional Economic Development Group, ordered an
engineering
analysis of the scope of necessary repairs and improvements, the mayor
said.
Ten million to 12 million tourists visit Wheeling each year, drawn to
Wheeling
Downs,
Oglebay Park, the nearby Cabela's outdoor outfitters store, ethnic
festivals and
other
attractions.
The city has successfully operated and attracted events to the 6,800-
seat
Wesbanco Arena
civic center and two smaller riverfront amphitheaters, the mayor said,
and local
officials
believed that keeping the Capitol open and attractive would further
boost
entertainment
options.
"We're very active in the entertainment arena and we know the import
of the
Capitol to our
city and our state," he said. "It made Wheeling famous and it's
something we're
hoping to
conserve."
Live Nation listed the Capitol with a realty company several months
ago, with an
asking
price of $850,000, spokesman John Vlautin said. Also earlier this
year,
Wheeling's fire
department performed an annual inspection and found 23 fire code
violations.
Wheeling Fire Chief Stephen A. Johnston did not return repeated calls.
Mr.
Vlautin would
not detail the violations, but said the main ones involved the need to
install
sprinklers and
upgrade the alarm system.
To keep the Capitol open while giving Live Nation time to address the
violations, the city
stationed firefighters there during a few events this spring, Mr.
Sparachane
said.
"There weren't very many and we thought it was manageable," he said.
"In
fairness to Live
Nation, they just bought it and they were in transition. They were
trying to
work with the
city."
But officials at Live Nation headquarters in Los Angeles decided to
close the
Capitol on
May 1 out of safety and financial concerns, Mr. Vlautin said.
The abrupt closure upset owners of nearby businesses that catered to
Capitol
crowds.
George Dormas, whose family has run the homey Bridge Tavern and Grill
on Main
Street
for 52 years, said he and his late father, Pete, stayed open to
accommodate
performers
and fans who poured in after shows for coffee, hearty sandwiches and
steaks with
all the
trimmings.
"I took it on the chin when [local department store] Stone & Thomas
closed 10
years ago.
I'm going to take it in the gut with this," said Mr. Dormas, ticking
off on his
fingers the
names of stars he's fed.
"I'm a positive person and I will wait everybody out. But it's
disheartening,''
he said. "I'm
hopeful things will happen [with the city purchase plan] and it will
be for the
good of
everyone."
Unaffected by the closing were WWVA and the other Clear Channel radio
stations
that
operate from rented offices off the Capitol's lobby and are being sold
to
GoodRadio.TV
pending Federal Communications Commission approval. It did force the
relocation
of the
bluegrass show and other events and threatened the symphony concert
that, Ms.
Hogan
said, would have been difficult to relocate.
Acoustics at the civic center weren't as desirable, she said, and the
only other
auditorium
large enough was at John Marshall High School in Glen Dale, W.Va. That
plan
wasn't
feasible because symphony rehearsals conflicted with testing at the
school, she
said.
After a phone call from Mr. Manchin and Mr. Sparachane, Live Nation
officials
last week
agreed to keep the Capitol open for 30 days to accommodate the
symphony and give
local
officials time to assess purchase and repair options. The symphony
this week was
working
out insurance details and the city again planned to provide
firefighters to
ensure the safety
of concert-goers, the mayor said.
Local leaders have heard that $2 million may be needed to make
necessary repairs
and
comply with codes, remedy cramped and dated auditorium seating and
spruce up the
lobby's ornate moldings, tiled floor and fancy teal, taupe and terra-
cotta-hued
friezes. But
they won't be sure until their analysis is completed, Mr. Sparachane
said.
In the meantime, they've asked Live Nation for information about
utility,
maintenance,
insurance and operating costs, rent revenue and other financial
details needed
to draw up
a business plan. They're also looking for funding sources and ideas
on
dovetailing the
hall's overhaul with riverfront development plans, the mayor said.
"We need to explore this as a business buying another business," he
said. "We
are only
interested if we can bring it up to standard and put a plan together
to buy it,
renovate it
and run it properly."
Despite those unanswered questions, Mr. Sparachane said Wheeling
leaders relish
a
chance to burnish their neglected jewel.
"We had an organization that was not real excited about the venue and
we as a
city are
very excited about it," he said. "This is an opportunity."
(Cindi Lash can be reached at c...@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1973. ) |
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