ALLENTOWN, Pa. — A proposed state-of-the-art music venue got closer to hitting the stage Wednesday night ahead of the start of construction this year.
Allentown City Council held a public hearing — at which no residents spoke — before approving an amendment to the city’s zoning ordinances to allow entertainment venue signs for buildings on Hamilton Street between 9th and 10th streets.
Similar signs already were permitted on Hamilton between 5th and 6th streets.
- The Allentown City Council approved a zoning ordinance amendment to allow digital entertainment signs for The Archer, a proposed music venue
- Developer City Center hopes to start construction on the venue in summer
- The leader of a nearby nonprofit told the council her rent has risen $2,000 per month because of the project
Developer City Center Investment Corporation requested the zoning ordinance change so it can put up a three-sided digital marquee outside the planned Archer Music Hall.
The digital marquee is “the main, key piece for the success of the venue,” City Center executive Robert DiLorenzo said last month.
Filling a void
Plans for the Archer Music Hall at 935-939 Hamilton St. show it will be a two-story entertainment venue with 31,000 square feet to accommodate up to 1,800 people.
It’s designed to attract events too small for the PPL Center, which has a capacity of about 10,000 people.
Above the large concert hall would be a smaller stage on the second floor for more intimate performances.
Allentown Planning Commission in February approved construction plans for the venue, which is scheduled to open next summer.
City Center is hopeful The Archer will serve as something of a replacement for the former Crocodile Rock Cafe, which closed in 2015.
City Center is hopeful The Archer will serve as something of a replacement for the former Crocodile Rock Cafe, which closed in 2015.
Croc Rock consistently attracted top music acts such as Snoop Dogg, 30 Seconds to Mars, Wiz Kalifa, AWOLNATION and Twenty One Pilots to downtown Allentown.
Located just two blocks from the proposed venue, Croc Rock also had shows by Taylor Swift and The Jonas Brothers while they were making their moves up the charts. It regularly ranked among the Top 100 busiest clubs of its size in the world and sometimes cracked the top 25.
DiLorenzo, director of planning and construction at City Center, said there has been a void in the Lehigh Valley’s entertainment industry since Croc Rock shut down.
He said he expects the new venue “is going to draw hundreds of thousands of visitors annually through the front doors.”
Potential for success
The zoning ordinance amendment to allow for a digital sign at the venue was one of the final hurdles City Center must clear before starting construction this year, DiLorenzo said.
The developer still must get building permits and other approvals for the digital sign, he said.
City Center plans for The Archer to hold three or four concerts by national acts every week.
Jerry Deifer, a founding partner in the Sands Bethlehem Event Center — now known as the Wind Creek Event Center — proposed a similar entertainment venue in 2017. He said recently The Archer could sell more than 240,000 tickets a year, which would make it one of the busiest clubs of its size in the United States.
Jerry Deifer, a founding partner in the Sands Bethlehem Event Center — now known as the Wind Creek Event Center — proposed a similar entertainment venue in 2017.
He said recently The Archer could sell more than 240,000 tickets a year, which would make it one of the busiest clubs of its size in the United States.
But that potential success likely relies on who City Center chooses to serve as its promoter, Deifer has said.
The developer has not yet selected a promoter but hopes to “have more clarity” in the next few months, DiLorenzo said Wednesday.
City Center says on its website that it is speaking with four leading national concert promoters.
‘My only opportunity to say no’
The council voted 4-2 to pass the amendment allowing digital entertainment signs for The Archer.
Members Daryl Hendricks, Cynthia Mota, Ed Zucal and Santo Napoli supported the measure, while members Ce-Ce Gerlach and Natalie Santos voted against it. Council member Candida Affa was absent from Wednesday’s meeting.
Gerlach said she “struggled” with her vote because it was only a vote on the developers’ request for a digital sign.
“I know this is just a sign and that’s it, but this is my only opportunity to say no. If I were on the planning commission, I would have said no; and if I were on zoning, I would have said no.”Allentown City Council member Ce-Ce Gerlach
She called Wednesday’s vote her only chance to “weigh in” on the project.
“I know this is just a sign and that’s it, but this is my only opportunity to say no,” Gerlach told the developers. “If I were on the planning commission, I would have said no; and if I were on zoning, I would have said no.”
Jessica Ortiz, who runs the Ortiz Ark Foundation at 113 N. 9th St., told council that rent for her “small, grassroots” nonprofit went up $2,000 a month because of the development planning to move into the area.
The Ortiz Ark Foundation provides services for low-income families, including a food bank and programs for women, young people, seniors and people re-entering society after incarceration, she said.
The nonprofit now is looking for potential new locations because it would rather spend its money to serve residents than try to keep up with climbing rent payments, Ortiz said.
If the Ortiz Ark Foundation is forced to leave Center City Allentown, “there’ll be a lot more people without food; there’ll be a lot more people without a lot of services,” she said.
Many of the people who rely on the nonprofit’s services likely will not be able to travel to a new location to get what they need, Ortiz said.
During the council meeting, Ortiz suggested City Center should help the foundation, which is “under severe stress because of that development.”
DiLorenzo said the developer would consider making donations as part of its ongoing efforts to support small businesses and nonprofits in downtown Allentown.
