New downtown Troy live performance venue to join city movement reviving the Riverwalk
TROY, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- Local business owners say COVID has kept them down for too long. Now it’s time to shake things up.
"There’s seemingly a path to getting to normal life, or we’re even there in a lot of regards. You know, that pent-up energy kind of like encourages me to do other things at this point," says August Rosa.
Rosa already owns Pint Sized in Albany and Saratoga. He now announces a third location opening in Troy that will double as a performance venue. Rosa says although bars and live music suffered some of the worst of the pandemic, he’s not worried about success because it is Troy.
"It really came from the needs of Troy, because there aren’t a lot of spaces to present live music, art events, stuff like that," he explains to NEWS10's Mikhaela Singleton.
The combined space at 275 and 277 River Street will function on one side as the third Pint Sized location while the other half will stand as the "No Fun" performance venue. Rosa says the space will focus on an entirely open concept for live performances and art installations across the walls.
"We hosted events at our other two locations, but they weren't necessarily conducive to those events because of the space. This too is relatively small, but for a moderate event of say 150 people, it can bring those music, art, or like cultural performances to downtown and still have that intimate, personal feel we've cultivated at Pint Sized," Rosa says.
"We are hopeful. I think the word is hope. I think people are looking at this as an opportunity to get in, be set, so that when we’re on the outside of COVID, they are going to be successful," says Troy Deputy Mayor Monica Kurzejeski. "I think people are seeing COVID as an opportunity to take a pause too, to see what worked and what didn’t work and then come out of it potentially different."
She says filling River Street vacancies comes at the perfect time. The newly unveiled plan for Monument Square will shape much needed economic development and accessibility for Troy.
"I think that’s the biggest excitement about this project for me is the continuity of the Riverwalk blending into the park, blending into the amenities of the public plaza, and then getting everybody up to River Street," she explains.
Rosa says coming out the other side of the pandemic, he believes his and other new businesses will do well thanks to the many city efforts to engage people in downtown.
"Before I ever start a new project, I make sure what we’re trying to do sits well with the current business environment, and Troy always looked good to us when we were in the mindset to expand. Things like the Monument Square project, the Riverwalk accessibility, the farmer’s market, things like that are more of an added bonus when choosing our space," Rosa says.
"I think we’re going to be filling a void that’s needed here and it’s going to work in harmony with all the other cool stuff that’s happening in town," he goes on to say.