In the middle of a grand restoration of The Palace Theater, Saint Paul city officials reached out to The Current for help in sharing the story of turning the rundown theater into a magnificent jewel in the city's cultural crown, and a great piece to kick-off the city's Sounds Perfect: 2016 Year in Music campaign.

We brought along Jeremy Messersmith to sing and test out the acoustics of the space. Clearly, construction is well under way, but still a little rocky, so a hard hat was a must while performing his song "Ghost," from his 2014 release Heart Murmurs.

The city is working with First Avenue and Jam Productions to book the shows at the Palace.
An open date has not been set, but the city will be working with First Avenue and Jam Productions to book shows and run the day-to-day operations of the theater.

Expect to see more "hard hat" sessions from the Palace Theater — about one a month — as construction progresses annd we celebrate the 2016 Year in Music in the city of St. Paul

About the Sounds Perfect initiative, St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman says, "We have much to celebrate here in Saint Paul, with music and the arts at the center of it all, bringing people together and making this city a vibrant, exciting place to be. Let's continue to build on the vibrant arts and culture of our city. Let us marshal our collective resources and our creative energy to build to a crescendo in 2016. Let's make sure that our musical venues and artists are supported and celebrated in 2016 like never before. Let's do it because it reflects our higher purpose and because culture and music and vitality are inextricably linked."