Four years to the day that the former Palace Theatre was resurrected after 13 long, dark years, the College Street Music Hall celebrated its success as a cultural force and economic engine Wednesday morning.
In a press conference in the lobby of the 254 College Street venue, impresario Keith Mahler, who books shows at the 93-year-old theater, released results of an economic-impact “survey” prepared by Quinnipiac University economics professor Mark Paul Gius.
The study quantifies the economic impact the College Street venue had on downtown during calendar 2018. Among the findings:
• 72 event-days during 2018 attracted 70,649 patrons to the College Street Music Hall.
• These events and their audiences generated an economic impact in excess of $16 million, according to Gius’ report. Of this, some $10.3 million was in direct patron spending.
• The venue and its economic activity supported some 280 jobs.
Part of what makes the venue an effective economic engine, Mahler said, is that it draws audiences from throughout southern New England. In 2018, 79.3 percent of patrons came from outside the city of New Haven, according to Gius’ report, and 7.7 percent from beyond Connecticut.
In addition, attendees to performances in 2018 spent in excess of $100 person in both direct (tickets, parking) and indirect spending. The venue seats 1,525 in concert configuration.
“College Street Music Hall is just getting started,” said Mahler, “and as we continue, we look forward to building upon this success while remaining one of the top preferred destinations in the state for live music.”
“New Haven’s resurgent nightlife has been fueled in part by the rebirth of this venue,” said New Haven Mayor Toni N. Harp.
The New Haven Center for Performing Arts Inc. (NHCPA) is the 501(c)3 non-profit that operates the College Street Music Hall. In 2015 the group reopened the theater, which had closed in 2002.
Mahler is president of Premier Concerts, which in addition to College Street also books Hamden’s Space Ballroom.
The facility first opened in 1926 as the Roger Sherman Theatre, a moviehouse and vaudeville venue. From its reopening in 1984 as the Palace Theatre, it was one of the busiest mid-sized concert venues in southern New England, at a time when the College/Chapel Street district was the city’s entertainment and retail locus.
Upcoming College Street Music Hall shows include Blue Oyster Cult (June 7) and Death Cab for Cuties (June 14).
Contact Michael C. Bingham at mbingham@newhavenbiz.com
