Should D.C. Save Lincoln Theatre?
There are plenty of voices calling for the city to prevent the closure of U Street’s Lincoln Theatre, the “jewel of Black Broadway.” Here’s one that isn’t. Eli Lehrer writes that the revitalization of U Street, which included the Lincoln Theatre restoration, hurt the area’s ability to remain a cultural destination. U Street “may have more jazz history per square inch than any other similar stretch in the world,” Lehrer writes, but now only two jazz clubs remain.
The Lincoln, white elephant that it is, doesn’t help and may even hurt the ability of the area to emerge as a stronger arts destination. It’s empty almost all the time and converting it for something more useful would likely reduce rents (slightly) elsewhere in the area. Restrictive D.C. laws that limit the places music clubs (even if they only offer acoustic music) can operate combined with high rents — driven higher by both governmental and private investment along U Street — have driven out more jazz clubs and stopped new ones from coming in. High D.C. property and income taxes make it inefficient to rent out any space that will be used only three or four nights a week (as most jazz clubs are). And this means that suburban hotels host more local jazz talent than D.C. jazz clubs.
— www.huffingtonpost.com
