Paul Bass Photos
Keith Mahler at the entrance to his latest live-music venue.
Michael Ulrich puts finishing touches on a wall inside the arena Thrusday as officials cut the ribbon.
The center-court net was gone. Along with the court. Monster amps rose from a new concert stage.
And a new era officially began for the Connecticut Tennis Center — as an outdoor concert venue called Westville Music Bowl.
Workers put finishing touches on the reborn, resuscitated stadium Thursday as officials cut the rechristening ribbon.
They cut it in time for Friday’s opening night of a spring and summer full of “under the stars” outdoor concerts, beginning with sold-out shows by the jam band Government Mule. (Click here for the full schedule of concerts.)
Optimism coursed through the air like a major-key guitar riff, as a new era dawned not just for a city beginning to reemerge from the Covid-19 lockdown but for a venue that is finally playing the role that it should have all along.
The tennis stadium was built three decades ago along Yale Avenue by wetlands and the West River with $21 million in state money. It represented the last of a generation of failed government attempts to boost the economy by luring suburbanites to town with sports events (baseball, hockey, tennis).
Some outdoor concerts were thrown in during the early days, shows fondly remembered by those lucky enough to attend. The acoustics worked. The seating felt intimate. (Bonnie Raitt and Marc Cohn were pitch perfect for the mellow evening setting, for example.) But concerts weren’t a part of the plan, and they were discontinued. Unlike today, Westville neighbors back then were more opposed to fun happening near their homes. They even stopped Paul McCartney from crooning at the Yale Bowl.
Meanwhile, tennis never drew the promised hordes who were supposedly going to plunk Gold Coast cash into the New Haven economy. A succession of tournament iterations burned through government subsidies while bringing a trickle of humans to the concrete colossus for only a week or two a year. Otherwise it sat silent 50 – 51 weeks a year, gradually deteriorating.
Now, just like Downtown, it is being revived with what works in New Haven: arts and entertainment.
Westville Music Bowl, with grass covering former tennis court.
Keith Mahler, whose Premier Concerts outfit revived the College Street Music Hall into a regional hit five years ago, oversaw the physical rescue of the crumbling former tennis stadium. The work included a complete recaulking and electrical overhaul. Cracks in the concrete court were filled in, then grass put in above it for seating near the new stage. Crews “surgically” removed concrete to open up the east side for loading equipment to the stage.
Now the space is ready for a steady stream of concerts May through September. As the state emerges from pandemic restrictions, this summer’s shows will be limited to crowds of 2,000, socially distanced in pods of two or four attendees. The shows are also limited by which groups are resuming tours (a disproportionate number of which seem to be of the Phish jam-band variety).
By next year the venue will host a wider range of shows with capacity crowds of between 3,000 and 5,000.
Speaking at a press conference preceding the ribbon-cutting, Westville Alder Darryl Brackeen (pictured) called the concert revival of the stadium a “dream come true.” “This is neighborhood-approved,” he added.
WVRA’s Lizzy Donius with Mahler, at right; and, center, concert venue attorney Steve Mednick, who as a Westville alder pushed for live concerts when the stadium opened 30 years ago.
Westville Village Renaissance Alliance’s Lizzy Donius was pumped about the first word in new venue’s title: “This puts the neighborhood on the map statewide and regionally.”
“There are three universal languages: Love, math, and music,” reflected Fire Chief John Alston Jr. (pictured). “May they all increase.”
Westville Music Bowl’s chief of security, retired city cop David Hartman.
Looking good: City Building Official Jim Turcio checks out the final preparations at the Westville Music Bowl Thursday with Keith Mahler.
Check one … two …
Such a great idea by someone who seems to have an amazing talent for budget-conscious transformation of old venues into new spaces.