Live Nation Notifies Wallingford it Faces 'Real Threat' of Closing the Oakdale Theatre

Leading up to the Zoning Board of Appeals hearing on May 27 regarding the town’s cease-and-desist order, Live Nation Worldwide Inc. has notified the Wallingford Town Council it is at a “critical stage” in the future of the Oakdale Theatre and faces the “real threat of closing the Theatre.”

Jim Koplik, president of Live Nation Connecticut and upstate New York, wrote in a letter sent to the council on May 12 that the company has engaged in a “serious effort to address the concerns expressed” in the cease-and-desist letter but said they are concerned the Oakdale could be closed “simply by operation of procedure — not substance.”

Koplik wrote that Live Nation has asked the town to lift the cease-and-desist order to continue discussions, but so far the town has declined.

Koplik wrote that if the cease-and-desist order is upheld and enforced, the Oakdale will “close and we will not reopen, as we will not be able to book future acts if closed by the Town. Please make no mistake that the closure is an unintended, unavoidable, and unfortunate result.”

Wallingford Corporation Counsel Janis Small told the Meriden Record-Journal that Live Nation has threatened closure of the Oakdale since negotiations began a year ago and “what should the town’s response be? Be loud and violate the regulations?”

The Record-Journal reports that Live Nation recently submitted an application to modify its special permit to allow for shows and events in the “The Dome” as well as modifying the VIP parking area and to change the “no noise” condition to resolve violations mentioned in the cease-and-desist order.

Since the town issued the cease-and-desist letter was issued, fans of the Oakdale have rallied and shown their support to the music venue and an online petition and a Facebook page, both called Save the Oakdale, were launched.

Read more at the Meriden Record-Journal here.

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