Merriweather getting 19 million dollar facelift

[Got Haggis?]

Merriweather Post Pavilion is slated for a $19 million facelift.
The Howard County Council approved $9.5 million to go toward renovations at the Columbia concert venue. Those funds will be matched by $9.5 million from the Howard Hughes Corp., which owns Merriweather.

The project will aim to reinforce Merriweather?s position as a premier concert venue. Renovations will include new seating and a raised main roof, a new stage, new restrooms and concessions, new artist dressing rooms and significant environmental upgrades. The changes will roll out over five years.
I.M.P. Productions, which operates Merriweather, recently signed a 10-year extension contract with Howard Hughes Corp. to continue operating the venue. The agreement resolved a dispute between Howard Hughes and the county over who would operate Merriweather for the long term.

Musician Jack Johnson, who has pushed for eco-friendly practices at the venues on his tour, will be at Merriweather on Thursday to announce the renovations with Howard County Executive Ken Ulman, I.M.P. Chairman Seth Hurwitz and Howard County Councilwoman Mary Kay Sigtay. Check back with the Baltimore Business Journal on Thursday for more details.

http://www.bizjournals.com/baltimore/news/2014/06/04/merriweather-post-pavilion-is-getting-a-19.html

[sweetcell]

overall, cool!  but, my grossly uninformed self sez:

new seating: who cares, seats are fine now (maybe this means more than just physically replacing the seats?)
raised main roof: who cares
a new stage: who cares, hasn't been an issue so far
new restrooms: cool
and concessions: i guess this is cool
new artist dressing rooms: who cares (the artists, that's who... but you have 19,000 people in the stands, who are paying, who don't really care.  have artists been refusing to perform at MPP because of the dressing rooms?)
and significant environmental upgrades: not sure what these are, but potentially cool.

guess my point is: without additional info, i wonder what those $19M are really being spent on.  currently, i'm not convinced that MPP will be $19M better in 5 years... not that my opinion matters.

how about improving roads and parking?  those actually affect me. </4_year_old>

[atomic]

The concessions lines are way too long when their are huge croweds.  You either miss half the show or don't eat or drink.  Of course the food is awful...Nothing healthy to eat at all.  I guess this is America and people expect artery clogging food when they go to a sporting event or concert but I think this is the main need for improvment. And the bathrooms should definitely be torn down and new ones built from scratch. 

I agree the seating area is fine.  They could add seats back in front and get rid of the pit.  I don't see an issue with the roof but perhaps it is old and needs replacement. 

[Julian, Bespoke SEXPERT]

How about roped off luxury seating that costs significantly more with iPads built into the back of seats that serve as both mini-video screens and allows us to order food, bottle service, and cigars delivered directly to our seats?

[Julian, Bespoke SEXPERT]

Also if there was some place we could get massages between sets and maybe VIP parking where we can get our oil changed/tires rotated/car washed and detailed during the show, that'd be really convenient.

[hutch]

I think the place needs a facelift and anything they can do to make the stage more visible to the lawn would be great.

[hutch]

Either way its a huge win win for Seth...ain't his money!

Rather Fillmoresque petetre?

[grateful]

I heard they're gonna make it look like Red Rocks.

[atomic]

Doesn't seem very thrifty.

[grateful]

They'll make it up in Handling Fees

[Hexenjagd]

Rather Fillmoresque petetre?

that is what I was thinking... Didn't a lot of people on here have an issue with Fillmore using government money to help fund an entertainment venue?

So what's different about this that makes people not care about the millions and millions of Howard  county funds that will be used for this?

[sweetcell]

first, it's not my money... i live in MoCo.  i'll let PGC residents get indignant about this one.  i won't blame them for complaining.

second, there was no one else offering to do this for free.  there was no zero dollar alternative  (not that this project is somehow essential or in the public interest... then again, neither was the FSS).

third, the ink isn't dry on this story yet.  there will be protests. 

[Julian, Bespoke SEXPERT]

Pay-per-entry VIP bathrooms with four-ply toilet paper.

[grateful]

first, it's not my money... i live in MoCo.  i'll let PGC residents get indignant about this one.  i won't blame them for complaining.

second, there was no one else offering to do this for free.  there was no zero dollar alternative  (not that this project is somehow essential or in the public interest... then again, neither was the FSS).

third, the ink isn't dry on this story yet.  there will be protests. 

HoCo

[i am gay and i like cats]

great . . . eleven dollar beers, just became twenty.