Gov. Brian Kemp has given Georgia concert venues the green light to reopen in July with new precautions against coronavirus, but many in metro Atlanta are not rushing to fling open their doors.
A day after Kemp issued an executive order to allow live entertainment venues, such as concert halls, to reopen July 1 if they follow a series of regulations, major event spaces were still trying to sift through the information and make a plan.
Venues across the state have sat largely dormant since mid-March, when the pandemic spread in Georgia and many businesses shuttered to help stop the spread of the disease. Large crowds and close proximity to others, especially indoors, make transmission of the virus much more likely, according to the Centers for Disease Control. That presents a challenge to spaces used to filling thousands of seats every night.
The Fox Theatre, Infinite Energy Center, Cobb Performing Arts Center and Lakewood Amphitheatre did not have decisions on reopening dates when contacted Friday. The Cobb Galleria Centre, which largely hosts conferences, plans to reopen July 13. Ameris Bank Amphitheatre has concerts on its schedule starting Aug. 1, but Live Nation, which manages the venue, says its reopening plan is not yet fully developed.
Since temporarily shutting in March, Infinite Energy Center management has been working with other venues across the country to figure out best practices once they resume hosting shows and events. Now, they’re comparing notes with the requirements released in Kemp’s Thursday executive order.
“We intend to try to get back to business as quickly as we can relative to the governor’s order,” said Stan Hall, chief operating officer of the Infinite Energy Center. “It’s not going to be an overnight thing, and we know that, but (Thursday’s) order at least gives us some guidelines for the plan we need to make a comeback.”
Kemp’s order lays out 30 requirements that venues must meet in order to reopen, including social distancing measures, regular sanitation and requiring workers to wear masks when interacting with patrons. Venues also must have designated entry and exit points and stagger times when people come and go in order to manage crowd size.
Eddie’s Attic, the cozy music venue in downtown Decatur, will likely not reopen on July 1, co-owner and talent buyer Andrew Hingley said. He’s not sure the venue, a favorite among local artists and residents alike, would be able to make enough of a profit with the state’s restrictions and reduced seating requirements.
“I just really hope we get back to normal soon,” Hingley said, adding that he has heard from artists who want to get back to playing shows, putting him in a difficult and stressful position.
Hingley is also worried about how the social distancing requirements could affect the energy in the room.
“My biggest fear is putting people in a situation where the vibe doesn’t feel right,” he said. Throughout the live music industry, he said, “everybody’s very tentative and very nervous still.”
Despite the July 1 go-ahead, Hall doesn’t anticipate adding a crush of live events immediately for the Infinite Energy Center. Most things that had been scheduled there this summer have been canceled or postponed, but some remain on the calendar, including the Georgia Bridal Show on July 12. Whether they will actually happen depends on the venue’s decision when to reopen.
“It’s too early to say,” Hall said. “We would never rush the process just to get it done if it didn’t give our customers the opportunity to come back feeling safe.”
