I just read a huge post on the Alamo Drafthouse blog. They’re announcing their 10th Anniversary celebration and the original location on Colorado between 4th and 5th is moving to the Ritz!
Wow.
I knew they were having trouble at the current location because of increasing rents. They started Heroes of the Alamo program last year looking for donations to remain at the current location and I guess it just wasn’t working out. It sounds like they had a lot of help in working out a deal to move to the Ritz. It’s hard not to sound gushing and stupid about this, but it’s so damn cool. The Ritz has been around since 1929 and has a long history in Austin as a theater, concert venue (Stevie Ray Vaughn, Big Boys and other have played there) and bar. Its future was in doubt (at least for me anyway) since the pool hall era ended last year. The fact that both can come together to preserve a location important to Austin and one of the best local businesses is just too great. You can’t help but pull for Tim and Karrie.
It sounds like they expect to move sometime this summer, so if you want to experience the old location, you’ve only got three months or so.
Update (03.21.07 09:31 CDT): I traded e-mails with Tim League. They mistakenly posted the announcement yesterday. It was supposed to go up today. They’ll start construction on April 1st and plan to blog the progress with photos and updates.
4 Responses to “Original Alamo is Moving!”
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I really love the Alamo. It’s prob the best thing about Austin. Just last night I saw El Topo and 8-BIT. The food’s not always the best and it would be great if they had some beer specials but still it’s a great place. I wish them all they luck in the world with the move and hope it doesn’t cause too much downtime.
Okay…the post was there this morning, but there’s no sign of it now. I wonder if this news was supposed to get out there yet?
why would they post on the blog only then to remove it?
Good question.
I’m guessing that they didn’t mean to post it today, but my RSS reader picked it up. It was definitely on their blog this morning for at least a short time. I e-mailed Tim to ask him what happened, but I haven’t heard anything back yet.
Jette posted about it on her blog as well.