Who will take over management of Fresno’s Tower Theatre? A new company with familiar names
There has been a lingering question attached to the city’s $6.5 million purchase of the Tower Theatre.
Who, exactly, would take over managing daily operations at the 83-year-old landmark once the city fully ended its relationship with the former owner?
That question may be answered Thursday when the city will present a recommendation before the city council.
According to the meeting’s agenda, the city is proposing a three-year professional services agreement with 809 Olive Avenue LLC. If the agreement is formalized, the company will take over the management of the theater’s entire operation, including programming, marketing, ticket sales and venue and event production and management.
That could happen as soon as June.
The city began looking at résumés in November and narrowed the field of applicants from eight down to three.
That included 809 Olive Avenue LLC, the Southern California based Sterling Venue Venture and the theater’s former owner (and interim manager) Laurence Abbate.
Abbate, operating as Tower Theater Production, continues his lease at the theater until June.
Who is 809 Olive Avenue LLC?
While the company name is new, 809 Olive Avenue is a composite of interested parties with familiar names and decades of event organization and promotional experience in the Fresno area and Central Coast.
It includes Eddy Burgos, Todd Newman, Kim Gaytan and Nick Kennedy.
Burgos has been promoting small- and large-scale concerts in Fresno for decades under the moniker Numbskull Shows and in 2013 became part of the ownership team at Strummer’s nightclub.
Of note: Numbskull Shows recently announced notable concert dates with the Australian rock band Amyl and the Sniffers and pop-punk pioneers the Descendents.
Newman is known along the Central Coast for running the San Luis Obispo-based production company Good Medicine Presents with his wife Korie. The list of acts they’ve booked over the past decade includes Neil Young, The Pixies, The Turnpike Troubadours, Leon Russell, The Postal Service and Jonny Lang.
Gaytan has been in the entertainment scene for years, working in multiple capacities in various venues around town. She is the current production manager for Strummer’s and Numbskull Shows.
Kennedy is the former venue manager at the iconic all-ages club Kuppajoe and a club called Epic in Ventura. He’s also responsible for a series of monthly Fresno Music Industry Meetups. He would serve as the theater’s general manager.
“We’re thrilled about the opportunity to manage the Tower Theater on behalf of the community, which is a vital anchor for the Tower District’s business and culture,” Kennedy said in a news release announcing the recommendation on Friday.
“It’s an honor to continue the theater’s legacy as one of the premier mid-sized music venues in Fresno and the Central Valley,” he said. “We want to make sure the Tower Theater is an inclusive and welcoming space for everyone in the community. It’s a special place that holds a lot of memories for many people, and we’re committed to preserving its legacy while also bringing in new and diverse programming.”
The company was selected unanimously by a five-person evaluation committee made up of city employees including the Assistant City Manager and PARCS Department Director. The committee reviewed and passed on various other proposals including one from the Fresno Arts Council.
“809 Olive Avenue LLC demonstrated a high level of understanding of the scope of work and presented a plan which aligned to the city’s expressed utilization of the Tower Theatre,” the committee wrote in its evaluation summary.
If the committee’s recommendation is accepted, the company would manage and operate the theater for three years, with two one-year optional extensions for a fee “equal to 12% of the gross receipts.”
