FIELD HOUSE Becomes concert hall |
With the demise of the State Theatre, traveling bands looking for a mid-sized venue have been stymied. But on November 24, that will change, when the Portland Sports Complex Dome, at 512 Warren Avenue, will host the first of what its owner says will be many national-music acts, the Goo Goo Dolls.
The State closed in March when owner Grant Wilson evicted Chris Morgan, who had been managing the theater. The building has yet to reopen, because of fire-code violations that have not yet been fixed. Wilson has not yet found a new tenant for the theater, leaving a gap in Portland for a venue with a capacity between a few hundred (like SPACE Gallery, with a 300 capacity, and the Asylum, which can hold 700) and the Cumberland County Civic Center, which can seat around 9000 people.
Up steps Jim Gratello, owner of the Dome, with a capacity around 3000 people, already known for soccer, field hockey, and lacrosse events, as well as boat and camping shows.
Gratello says he wants his venue, which includes Joker’s, a family-oriented arcade-playground-restaurant hybrid, the Turf’s sports pub, and the just-opened Gold Room for comedy and entertainment, to become a “premier entertainment center” for people of all ages.
Gratello is working with Lauren Wayne, northern New England marketing director for Live Nation, which had been the exclusive booking agent for the State Theatre, scheduling 30 to 40 shows there every spring.
Wayne says the Dome is “a really neat venue, definitely different with the [artificial] turf [floor], but will work for a medium size complex. ... [The Dome] isn’t competing with the Civic Center; [and] since the State is closed Portland needed a venue of that size.”
Gratello says much of the schedule is full of sporting events for the winter, apart from the Goo Goo Dolls in November and a Pink Floyd cover band on December 16. But come summer, Gratello plans lots more music.
“We plan on having the same bands as the Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom” in seacoast New Hampshire, he says. Wayne books shows at the casino, and Gratello says he will work to get many of those shows up to Portland as part of their trips north.
“We are really excited about it and look forward to having shows here,” says Gratello, who notes that alcohol will be served during shows, under Turf’s liquor license. “Portland desperately needs a venue outside of the Old Port.” He notes the Dome’s proximity to I-95, and sizeable parking lot as differences from Portland’s downtown.
And unlike with downtown venues, “the Old Port doesn’t have to worry about 2,000 people dumping into the streets after a show,” says Gratello.
Another venue expecting to host a variety of live entertainment, The Skinny, at the corner of Congress Street and Forest Avenue, is still under construction, and has no firm date for opening, according to owner Johnny Lomba.
