Long Live the Fillmore
As many of you have probably heard, and as reported in the Washington Post, our County Executive inked a deal Friday with Live Nation to secure The Fillmore at the old JC Penney building on Colesville Road. Thank heavens. I hope all the bitching and moaning and gnashing of teeth will stop.
But you and I both know that’s not going to happen. People on the lilstserv are already saying “it’s not a done deal yet” or “I’m already scared to walk to Whole Foods on a Saturday night.” Oh, please. You think we’re going to get a music venue and the neighborhood’s going to go to shit? If that’s going to be your perception, then I can’t help you. No one can. You can continue to fear change or roll with it – it’s your call.
I, for one, am totally psyched. And if Seth Hurwitz is listening: Yes, this means I won’t be spending as much money to go to your little 9:30 Club. Sure, I’ll go see the Rev. (among others) when he comes, but I hope this puts the kibosh on IMP’s comlaints, too.
Now, if you don’t mind, I’d like to take this opportunity to say just how wonderful our great County Executive is. Ike Leggett is about the best administrator a county could hope for. He’s tackling the tough problems with the budget, bringing great entertainment venues to the area, and putting the smackdown on the (formerly) Duncan Library because Douggie tried to steal our money.
Thank you, Mr. County Executive. And please remember this post when you’re deciding what to do with those 6 tickets you get to every show at The Fillmore.
Sincerely,
Your Friends at Thayer Avenue
17 Comments so far
In a certain neighborhood of Silver Spring right now they are strapping C4 to their chests and recording martyrdom videos…
Unfortunately, the kibosh has not been put:
Seth Hurwitz responds.
(This is not meant as a plug for JUTP but I wanted to make the letter available for anyone to read.)
Thanks for the post, Dan. Bummer on the wrench in the gears.
Through all this, I thought it was great that the County was getting the land. I think that’s the way it should be. It’s the most valuable piece of this entire equation. Seems to me like that’s Seth’s main interest. Why?
I think on April Fool’s Day this year Ike should announce that he’s inked a deal to demolish Fenton Village and replace it with a Super Walmart. The hilarirty that would appear on the listserv before everyone found out it was a joke would be the highest of high comedy.
Eric wrote:
I don’t think real estate is Hurwitz’s main interest. Rather, I think he wants to stave off competition to his venues (one in The District, another in Columbia).
I’ve emailed Hurwitz and his PR rep several times to ask whether an IMP club could still happen in Silver Spring, even if the Filmore takes the JC Penney site. God knows there’s plenty of room for an IMP club along Georgia Ave, in the Ripley district, or in South Silver Spring.
So far, no response.
About seven years ago, IMP was looking for a location in South Silver Spring. One of the potential spots was the former Caldor Building. This was before the Birchmere was even a possibility.
Could Silver Spring support two Fillmore-ish venues? Would IMP try and compete here, knowing that Live Nation could be eating their profits? I don’t know. The neighborhoods would be beside themselves if it happened.
Dan, I know the “IMP was looking at the Caldor building” thing came up a couple of months ago, and I apologize for not posting either on JUTP or elsewhere then, but I need to respond now…something about that story doesn’t make sense. Discovery had publically announced in ’99 that they were leasing the Caldor building, and had even started to move in by late ’00. It’s possible that the IMP team got their dates mixed up, but I just can’t see them really looking at something that had just been leased by a pretty big corporation.
I’m not mentioning this to say that you’re off the mark, because I thought I’d seen this as a direct quote from IMP. Having said that, I don’t think I can take that quote from them at face value without figuring out why the timeline doesn’t make sense. To put it bluntly, if you get the chance, I’d love for you to follow up on that quote and try to figure out if IMP’s claims of previous Silver Spring interest are really that credible.
Penguin wrote:
That’s the phrase I’ve been looking for! Thanks, Pengiun.
I’m going off of what IMP directly told me. Just because Discovery took over the Caldor building doesn’t mean they’re the only kind of entity that could’ve afforded it . . . I can’t imagine how high the rents were for a building like that in DTSS around 2000, but I’m not sure. I did try to see if I could find anything (like in the papers) on IMP poking around Silver Spring around 2000, and nothing came up, so it could be an empty claim.
Dan, I was pretty sure the Caldor claim came straight from IMP. Thanks for confirming it.
I agree that IMP could have afforded it…my point was that Discovery was already in the building in 2000, after publically signing a lease there in ’99 and renovating the building for about a year. Here’s the press release from MoCo:
http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/mc/news/press/99-260.html
Given that, either IMP has their dates messed up (entirely possible), or they poked around and saw the Caldor building, then learned it was already being leased by Discovery (also possible), or its was an empty claim made to seem like Silver Spring was already in their plans. We’ll probably never know, and it doesn’t really matter that much anyway.
With all the security that’s usually at these big club events, wouldn’t it be _safer_ to go to Whole Foods on those nights?
And I agree – nothing’s stopping Hurwitz from building his own place in addition to the Fillmore. IMHO, nothing would be more awesome than two large competing clubs (except three, maybe).
DMZ: Roger that on both counts. And it also depends on the acts playing. While the Ozzy/Zombie concert was one of the most respectful (and evil) shows I’ve been to, I could see some serious fights breaking out at a Michael Bolton show at the Fillmore.
I’m right there with you on multiple clubs. There was a huge contingent that wanted a Birchmere – why not pacify them with something?
I’ve said it before: Just bring an effing club here. Now. I don’t care who owns it – Hurwitz is fine. My complaint with Hurwitz, though, is convoluting the current process and postponing installation of said club.
I hope that someone (Hurwitz?) opens a club at that condemned pawn shop on Georgia at Ripley (across the street from Pyramid Atlantic).
It’s a cavernous space, would invigorate that stretch of Georgia Ave, and would spare an “historic” building from demolition.
Even if NPR (or some other project) takes over that property, it will be quite some time before the wrecking crews move in. In the meantime, let’s use the space for partying, rocking, rolling, etc.
If Hurwitz doesn’t move on it, I WILL. You hear me, Hurwitz?!?
Yes! The National Cleaning and Dying Institute, yes? I could see some serious rave action happening over there. Count Thayer Avenue in as a sponsor.
I really wanted the Birchmere on Colesville Road, but given that the Birchmere and the Fillmore will often cater to different audiences, I agree that both would do well in DTSS. Does anyone know if the Birchmere is still planning to open up in College Park?
As far as I know, Duncan is moving forward with the plans he’s set in motion. Perhaps the Penguin or JUTP has more insight?
I was on the Silver Spring Redevelopment Steering Committee in the late 90s and can tell you that IMP was definitely interested in coming to SS back then. But the Caldor building was never mentioned then by county officials, though other locations were, mostly down neat the intersection of E-W Highway and Colesville.
In any event, a deal never got done. It seems to me that it’s entirely possible that something in that experience soured the county on IMP. Who knows? But I do know that if they really had wanted to come here sometime since then, they could have. Officials were so eager to see new businesses come, they were throwing lots of money and tax breaks in all directions (like creating the arts and entertainment district IMP could have taken advantage of at anytime).
My take is that Seth just wants to kill this deal. If that happens, nothing will go in it it’s place.