The managers of beloved East Williamsburg venue Shea Stadium today announced that its original location at 20 Meadow Street would shut down for good, and that they were looking to relocate. Although they originally planned to reopen the space after it closed on March 9 because of “increasing pressure from the local authorities” for permit violations and city code infractions, their landlord nixed the plan last week.
The venue needed to undergo a process of permitting, licensing, and renovating in order to reopen, which required the landlord’s approval. On March 22 Shea Stadium’s management had launched a Kickstarter campaign to help try to fund that process, which as of today had exceeded its $50,000 goal and raised $98,276.
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The landlord was previously on board with the plan to get Shea Stadium up to code, and the venue’s management described his decision to back out as a “complete surprise” in a Facebook post. He now intends to repurpose the building to create a nightclub on the ground floor and remove Shea Stadium from the upstairs space it used to occupy.
“The work and costs involved with moving to a new location hang on a much larger scale than our previous goals and while we’re cautiously optimistic about our future in another location, we’re faced with a whole new degree of uncertainty,” they said. “We promise to keep you posted on our progress with full transparency and to refund all pledges if we’re not able to find a new headquarters that does justice to our time on Meadow Street.”
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