EAST WILLIAMSBURG — Shea Stadium, the DIY venue that operated without proper permitting for eight years, will not reopen despite raising nearly $100,000 to save it because the space's landlord wants to turn it into a nightclub, its owners announced on Facebook.
The owner of 20 Meadow St., home to the venue since 2009, wants to transform the first floor of the building into a nightclub and won't sign paperwork the venue's operators need in order to begin the process of legalizing it, they said in a statement on their Facebook page Wednesday morning.
"Sadly, their brand new plan for 20 Meadow Street includes a nightclub of their own on the ground floor and no Shea Stadium upstairs," the post reads. "Without his signature, it’s impossible for us to move forward with our mission to bring Shea back. After a fantastic near-decade relationship with our landlords and their family this reversal comes as a complete surprise."
Ahmad Salameh, who is listed as the manager of 20 Meadow Realty LLC, which owns the building, couldn't immediately be reached for comment.
Adam Reich, one of Shea Stadium's founders, also didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
The news comes just a month after a hugely successful Kickstarter campaign in which fans of the shuttered venue donated $98,200 to help revive it. The money was earmarked to cover renovations and attorney fees associated with the permitting process.
Instead, the owners will begin hunting for a new space, the Facebook post said.
"Finding a new location can take months and we plan to honor the faith you've put in us by finding the best home for what you’ve come to know and love from our crew," the post reads. "There's also a chance that space doesn't exist for us in NYC 2017, and Shea Stadium becomes part of its history instead, but we won't know until we get out on the streets and start looking."
