New 40-acre concert venue coming to downtown Montgomery
A 19th-century train yard on the outskirts of downtown Montgomery is about to be reborn as the state’s next major concert and event venue. And it’s pulling out of the station with a fiesta.
The company behind the elaborate renovation of the Kress building and other Dexter Avenue projects bought the lot full of towering brick-and-steel structures and originally planned to use it as a construction site. That changed after they saw the success of a downtown event last year.
About 2,000 people showed up at the much smaller Union Station near the riverfront for the inaugural Taco Libre music and food event in 2016. Most of them just walked up to purchase tickets on site. “We actually had to stop people from coming in because we weren’t prepared for that number and the vendors weren’t prepared for that number,” said Avery Ainsworth, one of the event’s organizers.
That led the Marjam Supply Co.-affiliated ELSAJA to suggest a partnership that would transform the former Western Rail train yard about a mile away into a sprawling, 40-acre venue to host everything from indoor concerts to multi-day outdoor festivals.
Read more: http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/story/news/2017/04/21/new-40-acre-concert-venue-coming-downtown-montgomery/100697370/