It’s been almost two months now since the Satellite Ballroom closed its doors for good as part of a deal that will now bring a CVS store to the Corner location that once housed not only the Satellite, but also Just Curry, Daily Grind, and Plan 9 Music’s Corner location.  When we spoke with Kirby Hutto with the Charlottesville Pavilion back in April about the closing of Satellite and the hole in the Charlottesville music scene it would leave behind, he was quick to mention that finding a suitable venue to replace the Satellite Ballroom was an “urgent priority”.  It appears that that urgent priority may soon be transformed into what is shaping up to be a budding reality.

In case you haven’t heard, Coran Capshaw’s Red Light Management has found a location for a new music venue in Charlottesville and will lease a nearly 5,000 square foot warehouse located behind the King Lumber Building at 608 Preston Avenue.  The Red Light group has already filed their application for a special use permit with the City of Charlottesville and the matter will now be taken up by the Planning Commission at a meeting on August 12.  If approved by the Planning Commission, the final step in the approval process will fall to Charlottesville City Council, who would have to give their OK to the plans for the proposed venue in a meeting to be held in early September.  With the approval of City Council, Red Light hopes to have the new venue up and running sometime in early fall of this year.

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Yesterday I spoke once again with Kirby Hutto at the Charlottesville Pavilion and he provided more details on where things stand at this point. 

The venue itself, as we mentioned earlier, is a warehouse/industrial building bordered by railroad tracks on two sides, and is located behind the King Lumber Building (just off of Preston Avenue’s eastbound lane, heading towards downtown, about two blocks up from the McIntire/Preston intersection).  [Map]. 

The interior has a wooden floor, high ceilings, and the building has a elongated rectangle layout with final plans calling for the stage to sit at the far end of one side of the venue.  Hutto described the venue as having a classic roadhouse feel inside and says that ideally they hope to have a venue, that at full capacity, could house between 400 and 500 people.

The Red Light group has already begun an outreach campaign with the proposed venue’s neighbors and nearby residents in order to address any potential concerns they may have.  In addition, venue planners have already singled out a couple of concerns that may came up as the project awaits approval from the Planning Commission, namely the amount of limited off-street parking as well as access issues off of Preston Avenue, and they are already establishing a plan to deal with these concerns.  In the event that both the Planning Commission and City Council approve the final plans, Hutto states that there will be close to 20 - 30 days of construction needed on the venue before it is ready to open its doors.

The lease on the building would run through late 2009, at which time Red Light hopes to have the renovations on the Jefferson Theater complete and then move the entire operation to that location on the Downtown Mall.  [For a more on where things stand with the Jefferson Theater renovations, the Daily-Progress has more here.]

As the August 12 Planning Commission meeting draws nearer, Hutto stresses that if music fans in Charlottesville feel that opening a new music venue in town, one that could fill the hole left behind by the closing of the Satellite, is important to them, then he urges them to attend the meeting and make sure their voices are heard.  That meeting will be on Tuesday, August 12 at 6:30pm at Charlottesville City Hall in the Council Chamber.

While nothing is set in stone and there are still a few more hurdles ahead before a new music venue in town is a reality, this news should give more than a few music fans in Charlottesville something to cheer about.

[I’m hoping to have a few pictures of the proposed venue on site later today]

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