U Street Music Hall, DC’s renowned dance club and live music venue that has been operating since 2010, announced that it is closing its doors permanently.
The decision is a result of the venue’s financial struggles stemming from the coronavirus pandemic.
The announcement came on Monday via a statement shared on social media.
“There is no easy way to say this, but here we go: It is with tremendous sadness that we share with you today that U Street Music Hall is closing effective immediately,” said the statement posted to Twitter.
“This is not at all what we envisioned for 2020, a year that was supposed to launch us into our second decade of bringing great music to our beloved home of Washington D.C.”
“It’s hard to take a step back at a moment like this and it hurts to say goodbye to our basement home on 1115 U Street, but the memories we created there will stay with us forever. We hope they will with you, too.”
Today is a sad day. After 10 years in D.C., U Street Music Hall is closing its doors.
Click through to read our full statement. pic.twitter.com/7xSacykxsg
— U Street Music Hall (@uhalldc) October 5, 2020
“Our team — like so many others in the industry that has been turned upside down — worked tirelessly over the the past seven months to see us trough this extended closure. But due to the pandemic, mounting operational costs that never paused even while we were closed, and no clear timeline for when clubs like ours can safely reopen, we had no choice recently but to make this heartbreaking decision.”
Many businesses were forced to call it quits since the COVID-19 crisis hit the DC area. Mayor Muriel Bowser recently launched a pilot program permitting some entertainment venues across the city to restart indoor performances.
Six DC Venues Allowed to Restart Indoor Shows During Pandemic