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Michelle Bruch
The Regional Flavor Theatre Company will renovate the second through fourth floors of the Skyway Theatre building.
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New theater company is eyeing Skyway Theater
UPDATED January 30, 2009, 10:23am
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By Michelle Bruch
A new theater company is interested in moving into the empty Skyway Theatre that sits above Barfly on Hennepin Avenue. The Regional Flavor Theatre Company would like to renovate the second through fourth floors of the building at 711 Hennepin Ave into a haven for local artists. “We’re planning to turn that into a large theater on Hennepin Avenue which focuses on allowing Minnesota writers, artists, directors and actors to have a place to perform,” said Artistic Director Phillip Rudy. “We’re going to program shows that are either by Minnesotans or deal with issues that are relevant to the state of Minnesota.” Rudy said he expects the fundraising and renovation to take one–two years to complete. When finished, the group would like to restore the film-screening space to provide a place for filmmakers to screen their work. They would also like to bring in national bands to perform in an intimate stage setting. “It’s our goal and our vision to take that part of Downtown ... and make that something that Minneapolis can be proud of,” Rudy said. “We wanted to provide a theater company that would give Minnesota playwrights and Minnesota artists a chance to have their work done. It’s really hard to find a place that will take a chance on new shows because they don’t sell very well.” Rudy said the new theatre company originally planned to organize a small production in Hopkins. Plans changed when Rudy met David Kabanuk, the owner of the Hennepin Avenue building, and learned that the Skyway Theatre space was available. Rudy said the theatre had been abandoned in 1998, and it will require quite a bit of cleaning and renovation work. Rudy recently relocated to Minnesota, and he currently works as an electrician, stage manager, technical director and lighting designer at venues around the Twin Cities including the Orpheum, Fitzgerald and Guthrie Theaters. He has also stage managed for national touring acts such as The Village People, Ru Paul and Flogging Molly. In addition to Rudy, the team of staff working on the project includes Managing Director Nicholas Olson, Business Manager Josh Airman, and Production Manager Christy Keocher. For more information on the project, Rudy is available at phil@regionalflavor.org
“Anyone that’s willing to help us out should definitely get in touch with me,” Rudy said. This story has been revised to clarify that plans for the theater are still tentative, and a lease is not yet finalized.
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Celebrate local beer at Spring Ale Fest
UPDATED February 2, 2012, 12:22pm
By Jeremy Zoss
Recent changes in city and state ordinances have made craft beer one of the most rapidly growing industries around, and a new event in April will celebrate the latest batch of upstart brewers. Spring Ale Fest will be held on April 7th at The Ritz Theater and will highlight 10 young brewing companies from Minnesota (and Wisconsin). “We’re all big fans of local beer, but the big guys like Surly don’t need marketing,” said Spring Ale Fest co-founder Conner O’Meara. “This is a platform for small brewers to introduce themselves to the public.” O’Meara and co-founders Bryan Dallman and Kate Heilman conceived of a small, all-local craft beer fest aft
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Bloomington man sentenced in Sexton Lofts mortgage fraud case
UPDATED January 31, 2012, 2:45pm
By Sarah McKenzie
A 66-year-old Bloomington man was sentenced today to 50 months in prison for his involvement in a $2.5 million mortgage fraud scheme at the Sexton Lofts. Gerald James Greenfield was sentenced at the federal courthouse in Minneapolis on one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering and fined $10,000, according to a news release from United States Attorney B. Todd Jones’ office. In a plea agreement, Greenfield admitted to his involvement in the mortgage fraud scheme with Brett Thielen, among others. Thielen sold condos at the Sexton, 521 S. 7th St., to financially unqualified buyers and fraudulently got mortgage lenders to lend those buyers money for the condos. Thielen also artificially inflated the condo prices. Greenfield helped him hide
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Community notebook: Southwest LRT supported by business leaders
By Michelle Bruch and Jeremy Zoss
Minnesota’s three largest local Chambers of Commerce — the Minneapolis Regional Chamber of Commerce, the St. Paul Area Chamber of Commerce and the TwinWest Chamber of Commerce — have jointly voiced their support for Gov. Mark Dayton’s inclusion of $25 million in state funding for the Southwest Light Rail Transit line in his Jan. 17 bonding proposal. The proposed Southwest LRT would connect the southwest suburbs with downtown Minneapolis and the region’s three rail lines — the Central Corridor, Hiawatha and Northstar Commuter. “As the economy edges toward improvement, major Twin Cities employers will be looking to expand — either in our area or elsewhere — in the coming years,” said
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Biz buzz: AEG Live announces new concert venue
By Jeremy Zoss
WAREHOUSE DISTRICT — The former Club 3 Degrees space, 113 N. 5th St., will reopen as The Brick this spring — a new concert venue run by live entertainment production company AEG Live. According to AEG, the 15,500 square-foot-space will feature a restaurant and bar, but its main focus will be live entertainment. AEG sees the space as a potential home for concerts, live comedy, corporate events and more. The club will have a general admission capacity of 2,000 people. Nearby First Avenue’s mainroom capacity is roughly 1,400. Los Angeles-based AEG owns several similarly sized clubs in other cities, including Los Angeles’ El Rey Theatre and the Bluebird Theater in Denver. AEG also operates the Target Center. The venue will
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Civic beat: Dayton says It’s Metrodome or bust
By Nick Halter
Gov. Mark Dayton says the Metrodome is only viable site for a new Vikings stadium that could pass during the 2012 legislative session. Dayton, in an analysis of several stadium site proposals, had narrowed in on two Minneapolis sites, the other one being at Linden Avenue near the Basilica of St. Mary. But Dayton said threats by the Basilica of a lawsuit have made that site unworkable. Dayton said he hopes a stadium deal can get done early in the 2012 session, which began Jan. 24, but he knows it may take longer than that. In his analysis, Dayton said the Metrodome site does lacks opportunity for surrounding economic development, but said Mayor R.T. Rybak’s plan to partially finance the stadium through diverting existing sales and hospitality taxes
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A perfect neighborhood
By Sarah McKenzie
Veteran developer Ray Harris imagines what an ideal community would look like in his new book, ‘Welcome to Wynott’Change is inevitable, but if Ray Harris had his way we would do a much better job at managing change in our communities for the greater good. In his new book, Harris has created a mythical utopia called Wynott — a place where people live and work in smart and sustainable ways. They walk more, drive less and spend more time with one another socializing in common spaces. Harris, 82, is a long-time resident of downtown Minneapolis and developer behind Calhoun Square, Greenway Gables and the Loring Park dog park. The impetus for “Welcome to Wynott” came when Harris’ children
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A catalyst for compassion
By Michelle Bruch
Northeast Dinner Bell expanding meal delivery programVolunteers from Northeast Dinner Bell bring more than 100 meals to the homebound every weekday, and the service is expanding into Southeast Minneapolis to replace the shuttered Meals on Wheels branch there. “It’s just as easy to send an extra 10 or 20 meals,” said Executive Director Eileen Hafften. “And we want to find more people who need help.” The organization is taking on more delivery routes at a time when its own future base is uncertain. The Trinity United Methodist Church building at 2511 Taylor St. NE, where the Dinner Bell has been headquartered for 38 years, is for sale. The declining Trinity congregation merged with another church last year, and Dinner
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Ole! Ole! Ole!
By jim Walsh
It’s crazy to think that an NBA team playing in a state-of-the-art arena in downtown Minneapolis with all the media-hyping amenities of the modern world could be described as the town’s best-kept secret, but that is how it has felt the first two months of this lockout-shortened basketball season — even though there is something undeniably and unprecedentedly special happening with this young and ravenous new Wolves team. Um, seriously? Check the wins-losses column, and it’s the same old story: More Minnesota Mediocrity. Couple the team’s record (well under .500 at press time) with the sad fact that the notoriously reticent Minnesota sports fan’s patience has been tested of late with bland and boring losing streaks from its
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