The Downtown Austin Alliance represents over 900 downtown property owners and 96,000 employees, wrote to the City of Austin asking to support Item 62 on this week’s Council agenda.
Live music is the lifeblood of our downtown economy. Studies show that $1 spent at a small to midsized music venue results in $12 of economic activity for neighboring restaurants, hotels, and retail shops. Not to mention the 2,000+ jobs our live music venues generate.
The SAVES Fund resolution is a first step toward the creation of a local, dedicated live music venue assistance fund with enough relief dollars to keep Austin’s live music venues in business.
Current grant programs allocating funding to live music have not made a significant impact, in fact, certain downtown venues were deemed ineligible for funding. Austin cannot afford the economic and cultural repercussions that will result if we don’t do more, which is why we stand in support of Save Austin’s Vital Economic Sectors (SAVES) Fund.
City Council Mulls Future Events, as Venues Cry for Help Now (Austin Chronicle)
‘We deserve to be saved’: Austin music venues rally for city-backed relief fund (Austin Monitor)
Six months into pandemic, Austin officials scrambling to save music venues, child care facilities and restaurants (Community Impact News)
City Council Approves SAVES Resolution to Rescue Venues, Bars, Restaurants (Austin Chronicle)
Austin council approves financial relief for music venues, bars, restaurants (Austin American-Statesman)
A Letter from Mayor Adler after Council Approval of the SAVES Resolution