Philadelphia Licensing and Inspection Officers
December 25th, 2013Jamey’s House of Music has begun an urgent appeal for your generous support to fund the move from our venerable first home in Philadelphia to an amazing new facility that we are in the process of purchasing in Exton, PA. Your donations are urgently and vitally needed for us to undertake this massive project. Simply click the donate button below and send us whatever amount you wish. We are grateful for even the smallest of donations as we work to build a reserve of $150,000 minimum (and hopefully more) to add to our financing which will help us turn an empty warehouse into a world class listening room and restaurant. Thank you for supporting us for these past ten plus years, and thank you now for your generous contributions!
On December 6th, 2013, we were visited by a phalanx of Philadelphia Licensing and Inspection Officers and members of the Philadelphia Police department, armed with orders to shut us down on the spot because our house concerts are considered by the city to be an illegal night club in a residential neighborhood. They had apparently received complaints from an unnamed party who wished to see us put out of business. It did not matter that the city had previously issued us a license for commercial activity at this location. Thus, in one fell swoop, ten years of the finest entertainment from around the world came to a full stop.
The response from the press and our community of avid supporters has been overwhelmingly supportive of seeing us continue operations in some way. After a careful assessment of our options, we decided that it is time to leave Philadelphia and seek a community that will welcome the kind of top quality entertainment presentation that we have become renowned for. We put our house right on the market, and began our search for a perfect venue in a welcoming location. It did not take long to find a great place, and our offer has been accepted.
The building is a “Town Center” zoned location in the town of Exton, 23 miles from here. The building is 4000 square feet, where 3000 square feet would comprise the main room, kitchen and storage areas, with 1000 square feet devoted to an office and living quarters (pending plan approval). The location is right on busy Route 100, with over 38,000 cars a day passing by. The building needs an enormous amount of work including excavation and running sewer, water and gas lines, new electric service, wiring and lighting, air conditioning, parking lot paving, sprinkler and alarm system installation, ADA compliant bathrooms, mezzanine and stage construction, commercial kitchen installation, and fitout with all the furnishings for a 100 seat restaurant… and that’s just the big stuff.
We hope to partner with a top quality chef to manage the kitchen, and are looking at developing an Asian fusion menu with a focus on fresh fish and sushi, and delicious vegetarian dishes. We are hopeful of obtaining a liquor license as well. While the restaurant will be open six nights a week, we will likely have concerts every Thursday, Friday and Saturday. We already have our day to day staff lined up.
We have a six month due diligence period in which to obtain all of our funding, permits and approvals, at which point the work can begin in earnest. Our attorney and architect/engineer are preparing all the details to put the plan if full motion.
We need your help dear friends to make this happen. We have the love, know-how and energy to do the work, but we need a great deal of money. We promise that this will be the best destination for good food and quality music on the east coast. We will remember your kindness, and repay your generosity in as many ways as we can think of. Thank you again for supporting Jamey’s House of Music as we enter our second decade of growth!
