Mishawaka, Z2 Entertainment to take over Aggie Theater

FORT COLLINS — The operators of the Mishawaka Amphitheater northwest of Fort Collins and Z2 Entertainment, which runs the Boulder Theater and Fox Theatre in Boulder, are partnering to take over the Aggie Theater in Fort Collins.

The groups, which will do business under the name Fort Collins Entertainment, will take over the Old Town music venue at 204 S. College Ave. from the owners of Denver’s Cervantes’ Masterpiece Ballroom, who bought the Aggie in 2015. Fort Collins Entertainment will take over ownership in March.

The Mishawaka team, led by owner and general manager Dani Grant, will oversee daily operations of the Aggie while Z2 and owner Cheryl Liguori will manage the venture’s strategy.

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“Why wouldn’t we join up — we’re two power-women in venue management — to do something in Fort Collins,” Grant said. “It just makes sense.”

This isn’t the first time Mishawaka and Z2 Entertainment have worked together. Mishawaka contracted with Z2 in 2015 to book bands for its venue.  

Liguori said she has been looking for a way into Fort Collins for years given the efficiencies that can be achieved operating venues in that city as well as in Boulder.

“It really makes sense for artists to be able to do a Boulder-Fort Collins run” that allows acts to perform in both cities over the course of a few nights.

The new ownership will not impact shows already booked at the Aggie.

“We’re not pulling anything off the calendar,” Liguori said.

Z2 Entertainment’s Joe Golaszewski will be the Aggie’s lead talent buyer.

The building that houses the Aggie is still owned by Scoo Leary, who sold the venue operations (but not the physical structure) to Cervantes’ Masterpiece Ballroom in 2015.

Liguori said Fort Collins Entertainment has the option of buying the real estate in the future, “which we may or may not decide to do.”

Fort Collins Entertainment has committed to improving and upgrading parts of the Aggie’s interior.  

“I can’t think of better people to take over The Aggie than Z2 and The Mishawaka,”  Scott Morrill, Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom owner, said in a prepared statement. “With their experience and expertise, I know that the Aggie Theatre and the Fort Collins music scene are both in good hands.”