BONITA SPRINGS — A music staple in Southwest Florida is closing its doors for good.
The Southwest Florida Event Center put out a message to supporters on Facebook last night, saying it made the decision because it doesn’t know when it will be able to reopen safely.
Owner Jennifer Shanahan says, before they had to shut down, business was booming.
“Our ticket sales from our patrons were exponentially higher from year after year, and we essentially came to a screeching halt on March 13th," said Shanahan.
That halt happened so quickly, the set list from that night was still on the stage Thursday, as well as place holders on tables. Shanahan said it was shortly after they were shut down that she decided to cancel upcoming shows to make sure people got refunds.
"Customers said they needed that money back to use for other essentials. To pay bills, to pay for groceries," said Shanahan.
Shanahan said she thought about applying for a Paycheck Protection Loan the federal government is offering right now, but decided against it.
“It doesn’t make sense to take the loan, because if we would in order to pay out our teammates, we would then have to repay that loan, because who knows, we may have had to close our doors anyway," said Shanahan.
So Shanahan made the tough decision to close, posting the sad news to Facebook. It’s the decision a lot of empty small businesses may be making very soon. According to a survey done by the National Main Street Center, up to 25% of small businesses in the Untied States could close within the next five months.
Now, Shanahan has the job of taking down posters for shows that will never happen, but she said, while this may be her last curtain call, she’s holding out hope for the rest of the industry.
“I don’t know what the future is, but we all need live music. We need it to fill our souls, and it will be back," said Shanahan.
Shanahan said, when live music finally does start up again, she hopes to continue working in the industry.
