The Brooklyn venue Shea Stadium opened back in 2009 and it’s one of the few surviving all-ages DIY spaces operating in the borough. Last year witnessed the closure of Palisades, Secret Project Robot, Market Hotel, and Aviv, and not long before that the city lost Death By Audio and 285 Kent. On top of being a venue, Shea has amassed an impressive archive of live recordings from nearly 1,000 bands that have played the space; Titus Andronicus, So So Glos, Pylon, King Krule, Wavves, DIIV, Pinegrove, Frankie Cosmos, and many more artists are included in that archive. In addition to music performances, Shea also hosts readings and comedy shows. This venue is an institution, and now the people running it are in need of some help.

Starting in January, Shea received a series of violations related to zoning and licensing of the building they’ve been operating out of for the past eight years. No vacate orders were given, but shows were interrupted or shut down by local authorities. Shea chose to close down temporarily earlier this month with the goal of reopening later this year after undergoing renovations. And today, the venue launched a Kickstarter campaign to get the space up to code. Organizers hope to raise $50,000, all of which will go towards the following:

• Renovations to pass inspection by the Deptartment Of Buildings, FDNY and Department Of Health ($20,000)
• Architect fees for drafting plans and filing permits ($13,000)
• Fire safety training ($1,000)
• Health and bar permits ($7,000)
• Legal fees ($14,000)

Operating above board will allow Shea to continue to book great shows, and it’ll also allow the space to host new kinds of programming, like free daytime events and workshops. Once Shea reaches their $50,000 goal, they’ll start renovations with the hope to reopen the space to the public later this year. Here’s a brief excerpt from a press release:

Since day one, we’ve put artists first. We’ve always operated at the lowest possible overhead to maximize profits not for ourselves but for the struggling musicians, artists, and comedians who come through our doors.

Now Shea needs the help of its community, and we have no doubt our followers, friends, and fans will do what they do best: when one of us falls, we pick each other up. The show will go on with the help of our supporters, and we truly believe our goal is attainable because of the strength of the DIY and music community.

Sincerely,
Adam, Nora, Luke & the Shea Stadium Family

Donate to the Kickstarter campaign here.