SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A renewed push to improve the arts and entertainment scene is taking place in Sacramento.
The most noticeable of the efforts is the construction of a new concert venue, “Channel 24.” It’s on 24th street between Q and R streets.
Allen Scott, president of concerts and festivals Another Planet Entertainment, said this is the first venue they have built up from the ground.
“We’ve been looking for a venue of this size for over 10 years,” said Scott.
For more than a decade, Scott and Another Planet Entertainment, the group behind the Fox Theatre in Oakland and the outdoor arena in Lake Tahoe, have been looking to open a medium-sized concert venue in the Sacramento area.
When they couldn’t find one, they decided to build one themselves.
“There’s a sweet spot of 2,000 to 2,200 tickets, and artists were skipping Sacramento,” said Scott.
In Sacramento, there's the Iconic Ace of Spades, which seats around 1,000 people.
The Memorial Auditorium seats 5,000 people and then Golden 1 Center seats just under 15,000 for concerts.
Scott said artists often skip Sacramento to play at venues in the Bay Area and Reno because of the lack of seating.
“Just in the Bay Area, there are about 300 concerts that come through to play, so even if we do a third of those, that’s 100 concerts a years,” said Scott.
Those concerts will take place in the new 2,150-seat capacity venue called Channel 24.
It features standing general admission on the floor and balcony-tiered standing and reserved seats.
The Sacramento Music Census also identified the need for a medium-sized venue.
James Allison, associate director Development Midtown Association, said the venue is located in an area being primed for expansion.
“In midtown alone, over 55% of our sales tax is generated through our social economy, providing both important revenue for the city and as well as employment opportunities for folks so we are thrilled to welcome Channel 24,” said Allison.
On Tuesday night, Sacramento City Council started to work to address the other two main concerns from the census, which included a difficult permitting process and lack of venues for musicians.
Megan Van Voorhis, director of Convention and Cultural Services for the city of Sacramento, helped with the census. She was part of the group presenting changes to the permitting process Tuesday.
“The title of it is a limited-entertainment permit, right now the entertainment permit is largely geared toward folk whose primary business is a music venue,” said Van Voorhis.
Right now, a restaurant that wants live music for a Valentine’s dinner must go through the same strenuous process as someone hosting a major concert.
“We recognize those are different,” said Van Voorhis.
By making the permit process easier, the hope is more jobs will become available for musicians and help grow the arts and entertainment scene overall.
The city also plans to use American Rescue Plan dollars to create venue grants.
They are expected to approve the new limited permit process within the next 6 weeks.
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