Due to the Coronavirus pandemic concert and performance venues across Michigan were among the first to close and are expected to be the last to reopen.
Venue owners and operators have organized a group they’re calling “save our stages” and asking the state legislature for financial support.
Steve Pierce recently open “The Ypsi” in downtown Ypsilanti.
“We’re working on trying to get ten million dollars in dedicated funding to keep venues alive”
He sites a recent study that showed music venues and concerts and festivals generate 670-million dollars in economic benefits to the state of Michigan each year and employ thousands of people. He says several venues have already closed and many more or at risk without some type of financial support.