Longtime Michigan Entertainment Venue Permanently Closing
Plenty of local restaurants closed down over the past few years due to the pandemic. Of course, restaurants weren’t the only casualty, as other establishments were forced to close, too.
News just broke that a longstanding Michigan venue is permanently closing its doors, largely due to the pandemic. This one breaks my heart, because I’ve seen several shows there over the years. I think the last show I saw there was A Perfect Circle, which is one of my favorite bands.
The longtime establishment closing is the DeltaPlex Arena and Conference Center, which has been active for a whopping 70 years. The venue was built in 1952 as the moniker Stadium Arena. It was Grand Rapids’ main indoor entertainment venue until Van Andel Arena took over that role in 1996. In addition to live music and other entertainment events, the DeltaPlex has hosted the NAHL Grand Rapids Rockets, later IHL Grand Rapids Owls and currently hosts the NBA G League Grand Rapids Gold and the Major Arena Soccer League 3 Grand Rapids Wanderers. The final day The DeltaPlex will be open under that brand is July 31, 2022.
“It is with mixed emotions that I am announcing that the DeltaPlex will be closing and ceasing business as of July 31, 2022,” DeltaPlex president Joel Langlois said in a statement. “We have been impacted by many circumstances which were out of our control. The effect of the Covid virus on our community was devastating, and the mandated shut down of our business for over 16 months created an extraordinary hardship. During that time, many of our expenses did not stop while we saw little to no income. The few events and facility use over that time were, for the most part, done without any expectation of rent and was done as part of our civic obligation to give back to our community during a difficult time.”
He continued, “Even though the past few years have been challenging, the decision to close has been difficult. Over the past 25 years, Lee Anne and I have been honored to come to know many wonderful people, many of which we now refer to as family. Our team of hard working and loyal staff, many great clients, City of Walker and the West Michigan community have all worked along-side of us to build this business. With that all being said, we are at a point in life where we feel it is time to move on to the next chapter. We have been humbled by the dedication of the many people around us and will be working with them to provide future opportunities.” Reach out to me on social media on Facebook here.
Things we love about Michigan in the summer:
