Infographic: Comparing venue sizes in the Twin Cities
November 01, 2013
The big news in the Twin Cities music scene this week broke Monday when St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman, long a supporter of local arts and culture, announced the city's plans to renovate and reopen the 97-year-old Palace Theatre on West 7th Place in the heart of downtown St. Paul. The city plans to invest $12 million into the space, which has sat vacant for nearly 30 years, and at a press conference earlier this week it was stressed again and again how crucial a 3,000-person capacity space could be for a concert market that lacks such an option.
And the Palace Theatre isn't the only venue that's been in the news lately. This year we've lost the historic 400 Bar; we've learned that First Avenue (who may also be involved in the Palace) has purchased University Avenue venue the Turf Club; we've watched Station 4 shutter, and learned it may reopen as two separate, smaller spaces; and we've worried as the future of the Artists' Quarter still remains quite uncertain.
All of these developments caused us to revisit a conversation we've had time and time again here at the Current: Just how do venue sizes in the Twin Cities measure up, and is there an easy way to wrap our heads around all that data?
53 venues are included in this infographic, which isn't comprehensive by any means, but it does give us a good visualization of just how wide the range is here in town—from the largest concert in recent history, the U2 concert at TCF Stadium (58,000 tickets sold) down to some of the most intimate rooms in town, like the Acadia (capacity 75). As you'll see, we also included the Palace Theatre in the list to see how it fits in with other options here in the metro area.
Special thanks to Leah Garaas for her work designing the graphic, and Brett Baldwin for helping to research the venue capacities.
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