Bohemian plans new downtown Fort Collins music venue
FORT COLLINS — A new mid-size music venue is being planned in a 119-year-old building in downtown Fort Collins, the Bohemian Foundation announced today.
Laporte Venue LLC, a newly formed Bohemian venture, closed Wednesday on the $2.7 million purchase of the building at 132 W. Laporte Ave. that currently is home to Washington’s Sports Bar and Grill. That business will close April 30, said owners Shane and Megan Belcher, and foundation spokeswoman June Greist said the new venue will open its doors in late 2017 or 2018.
The building’s seller was local real-estate agent and developer Dan Eckles through Laporte 132 LLC. That entity purchased it for $2.55 million in July 2014, according to Larimer County records.
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The new, yet-to-be-named venue will be locally programmed and will feature regularly scheduled “Colorado Nights” presentations, showcasing musicians from Northern Colorado and across the region. Bohemian also plans to bring in national acts.
“Fort Collins’ burgeoning music scene has created a demand for more performance space,” said Tom Scharf, director of music programs at Bohemian Foundation. “This venue will aim to fill the gap between Northern Colorado’s smaller venues and larger event centers.”
The venue will accommodate about 750 people, Scharf said. “That number is based on standing capacity,” he said. “We do have a mix of seated and standing shows. The seated figure would be less than that, but we don’t know yet how much less. We haven’t done a design charrette on that. We do plan to add some wings to the balcony, though.”
Scharf said he’d like to open before 2017, but there’s a lot of work to do inside, and a contractor has yet to be selected. “There’s ephemera from movie sets hanging from the ceiling in there,” he said. “We’ll get in and see how we can add green rooms and all sorts of things.”
Scharf said the venue also will be an important link to the activities that are planned for the Music District, a five-building, music-centric gathering place west of College Avenue and a half-block north of Laurel Street that is slated to open later this year.
“We want to help grow and connect musicians, production personnel — including sound and light personnel — and other industry professionals with the work we are doing at Bohemian,” Scharf said. “We would love to see locally grown talent feed our other community venues and events as well and add to our cool musical ecosystem.”
The building, built in 1897, will be renovated in a way that enhances the original structure, according to a media release from Bohemian, a private family foundation established in 2001 and owned by philanthropist Pat Stryker.
Washington’s Sports Bar and Grill had been in operation for nearly 38 years, and had been owned by the Belchers for the past 11 years. The couple said they now will focus full-time on their NoCo Party Bus transportation and limousine company.
“Even though our time at Washington’s is ending, the memories and friendships we have made will last a lifetime,” Shane Belcher said. “It is a very bittersweet time in our life. We are closing a very memorable chapter to something that has been our everyday life, along with a lot of blood, sweat and tears for more than a decade. Ultimately, this will give us more time for our growing family and time to focus on new adventures.”
Shane Belcher founded the Fort Collins-based party bus in 2011.
“This is a goodbye to Washington’s, and hello to something that will be spectacular for the community,” Megan Belcher said. “There is a growing music interest in Fort Collins, and we couldn’t be happier that Bohemian will be developing the building into a live-music venue.”
Washington’s will hold a family-friendly farewell celebration starting at 5 p.m. on April 30 with live music, penny burgers and drink specials.