The Outland Ballroom and the Odyssey Lounge are temporarily closed as the complex continues renovations since its change of ownership in 2020.
The Outland Complex houses the Ballroom, the Odyssey, Hour House venues and the Sweet EMOtion ice cream shop.
The foundation under the Ballroom and the Odyssey needs to be reinforced in order to support occupancy limits, according to owner Kevin Dunn.
Like many live music venues, the Outland was negatively impacted due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and its former owner Jimmy Kochs sought to sell the business.
Dunn acquired the Outland and its accompanying businesses in 2020 after Kochs backed out of a deal with another potential buyer that received public backlash, according to reporting from the Springfield New-Leader.
Dunn is also the owner of The Varakus Group, a music production company in Springfield.
Since Dunn’s purchase, the Outland Complex has undergone significant renovations and changes. Roughly two and a half years later, and the facelift is still ongoing.
With foundation repairs needed, the Outland is looking at a late February reopening
While it has remained open for much of that time, the upcoming renovations the building needs have forced the closure of its doors for a few weeks. Dunn is hoping they will be able to reopen by Feb. 22.
“We just shut down to do renovations that are needed to reinforce the floors, hang and program new lights, repaint floors and hang new signs,” Dunn told the Daily Citizen. “…Since we have so many people in there and standing room only, we need to make certain the foundation is safe before moving forward.”
They already have engineer plans drawn up and work will begin soon, according to Dunn.
Ahead of their hopeful late February reopening, Dunn said they will need to reapply for all of the necessary local and state licenses that they let expire to resume full operations of the Ballroom and the Odyssey.
All of the scheduled shows and events listed on the venue’s websites and Facebook pages between now and their reopening will either be canceled or postponed, according to Dunn.
The Hour House venue and bar, which hosts live music, karaoke and drag shows, is still in operation, along with Sweet EMOtion. Dunn sold Hour House to Trevor Sterly in 2022, and eventually plans on selling its sister venues.
“Over time, I've been finding the right people to run the clubs,” Dunn said. “I didn't plan on keeping them, just saving them and renovating them, then giving them back to the people who do so much for them. I am a music producer, not a club owner.”
Their temporary shuttering of the two venues comes on the heels of the permanent closure of Springfield Brewing Company’s downtown music venue, The Cellar, and the announcement of the Pappy’s English Pub, which will bring live music to the adjacent Grant Beach neighborhood.
