LoConti Offers Up The Agora

Veteran promoter Hank LoConti Sr. has offered what was once the top club in Cleveland to the Cleveland School of the Arts.

The 1,800-capacity Agora Theatre, which was built by LoConti in 1966 and became the first of a chain of Agora clubs, has moved three times since it was established and was shut down this summer.

Even in the best of economies, the best LoConti could do was break even during that season and he has had a hard time keeping the theatre viable because Live Nation is taking the profitable shows, he recently told the Plain Dealer.

LoConti is seeking a smaller location and has wants to donate the venue to the arts school which, he told Pollstar, would need to drum up $61 million if it wants to build a new facility that includes full staging. Its last location was razed.

Officials from the school meet on Feb. 23 and will likely discuss the offer, LoConti told Pollstar. If they turn down the offer, LoConti has a plan B but “it’s sizeable.”