City OKS theater becoming music venue
Owner hopes the place can complement other music clubs
A former movie theater on East Hudson Street in the University District is expected to become home to live music and more next spring.
Bobby Miller, the owner of the planned new venue, Lovebirds, said that he hopes his place can complement the other music clubs in the area while helping generate more foot traffic and helping the area become more of a destination.
The Columbus Board of Zoning Adjustment recently approved a parking variance to clear the way for the venue at 367-371 Hudson St., which is near Summit Street in the Sohud neighborhood, across the street from the Glen Echo neighborhood.
Miller said his plan still calls for live music on the second floor three to four nights a week, with space for up to 160, and a bar on the first floor at night. During the day, the first floor will be a Honey Cup Coffee shop.
Cost to renovate the building is estimated at $500,000, and Miller hopes to have work completed and open by March or April 2022. The develop
“I love this corner. I love what’s happening there. It feels like an extension of what the 80s, 90s, 2000s High Street around the university was. A lot of energy has migrated to this area.”
ers still need to obtain building permits.
“I love the location because I feel like it falls on the fault line between campus and Clintonville,” he said, believing it will draw younger artists and musicians in the area, along with young families.
“I think it’s going to be a hub for creativity, with a coffee shop and music venue and bar,” he said.
He dropped the idea for an outdoor covered stage out back so he could put in three parking spaces. “It wasn’t a huge thing for me.”
In June, a 2-2 vote by the Columbus Board of Zoning Adjustment on a parking variance threw a wrench into Miller’s plans.
But the board voted 5-0 on Aug. 24 to approve a variance to reduce the number of required on-site parking spots from 38 to three.
Miller said besides the three spots behind the building, there are 15 spaces in the lot next door and he has an agreement with the owner of Evolved Body Art nearby for 13 spaces there.
A company created by Nick Wolak, the owner of Evolved Body Art at 2520 Summit St., bought the 3,100-squarefoot Hudson Street building where Lovebirds is planned in 2017 for $72,500. Wolak wanted to save the building and redevelop it.
“I think it’s a fantastic look for the community,” Wolak said of the project.
The theater was built in 1925 and what remains of it, including the lobby and projection room upstairs, has been vacant for years. The auditorium itself has been demolished.
“I love this corner. I love what’s happening there,” Miller said. “It feels like an extension of what the 80s, 90s, 2000s High Street around the university was. A lot of energy has migrated to this area.
“We’re not Austin, Texas, yet,” Miller said. “There are things that allow certain
Bobby Miller Lovebirds owner
cities to to do certain things. It falls back to density. Putting Lovebirds there, you’re putting in a little more density there. You’re starting to create an area that’s a five- 10-minute walk to five different music venues.”
He is referring to the nearby Rumba Cafe around the corner on Summit Street and the Rambling House farther west on Hudson Street, along with Spacebar and Ace of Cups, where Miller used to work booking acts, down on North High Street.
“We have discussed an idea about creating a music festival at some point, making it a community festival,” Miller said. “That’s down the road.”
Greg Hall, the owner of Used Kids records at 2500 Summit St., said he’s all for the redevelopment of the movie theater. He said such improvements attract money, and more entertainment, to the neighborhood.
“So I think it’s a very good thing, a big net positive,” said Hall, who moved Used Kids from North High Street to Summit Street in 2015.
Some neighbors are concerned with parking in the area, but Hall is less so.
“There are a lot of medium and small shows in this neighborhood,” he said. “People find a place to park.”
“One thing that keeps the neighborhood fluid and vibrant basically is free parking.”
Hristina Panovska, whose Aperture Photography used to be in Sohud and who still owns and rents out a house there, said she has long wanted to see the old theater come back to life.
“It’s a very urban and active area,” she said. “Bringing more vitality to it makes it better.” mferench@dispatch.com @Markferenchik