Well, this blows. The Worcester Palladium may be one of the most charming places to see a metal show, and every year thousands flock for various festivals including the New England Metal and Hardcore Fest. Well, according to a new report by Worcester Mag, it's in danger of being turned into a parking lot:
Word spread to the Worcester Mag office pretty quickly on Tuesday that the owners of the Palladium were filing – or at least threatening to file – paperwork for the demolition of the music hot spot and regional Juggalo headquarters in order to create more parking for the courthouse across the street. Worcester attorney and Palladium owner John Fischer, when asked to comment on the rumors, said he hadn’t made a decision yet but added, “It has a lot to do with taxes.” Like a number of the city’s commercial property owners, the Palladium has seen a huge spike in its fiscal year 2012 assessment and subsequent tax bill, jumping from an assessed value of $689,000 in 2011 to $2.27 million this year. “We’re still debating what we’re going to do,” Fischer lamented. “We’ll know by August 1.”
Yikes! I've been there many times and there is plenty of parking available all over. It makes sense how the community isn't crazy about having a live venue in the court district of town. Worcester always struck me as a weird place to have metal shows. Metal Insider tried to contact members of the Palladium staff and MassConcerts but got no response at the time of their initial reporting of this story. Hopefully, things will work out so there could be more shows there in the future.
