A week after TempleLive Cleveland laid off its entire staff and continued canceling upcoming shows, there has still been no official announcement that the venue has closed, though those circumstances, in addition to its website now being dead, are indication enough.
The Arkansas-based company also recently shuttered its other three venues in Peoria, Illinois; Wichita, Kansas; and Fort-Worth, Texas.
In the first public statements since the news, Lance Beaty, the CEO of TempleLive owner Beaty Capital, told Talk Business & Politics that industry pressures stemming from the consolidation of online ticketing, venue ownership and management were to blame.
“We are simply an outsider in an insider’s business,” he told the outlet. “No matter how much money you throw at it or how creative you think you are, if you’re not on the inside, you’re not in.”
One likely contributing factor in the closures: Partners Bank in Arkansas last week filed a complaint against the company over repayment of a $1.5 million credit line.
Beaty said they’re in the process of trying to sell assets, individually or as a package, or come up with another solution to satisfy Partners Bank and other creditors.
“We’re having discussions with other national operators with respect to either a sale or a joint venture of some kind where we would be a passive minority holder in a newly capitalized company. We’ll see what happens,” he told the outlet. “Look, this is likely a $50 million to $60 million transaction that has to be worked through. … But solutions have to be found.”
The company first acquired an historic Masonic Temple in Fort Worth in 2014, pumping millions into renovations. It grew with acquisitions of other Masonic Temples and buildings in the following years, including in Cleveland, where it spent a reported $8.1 million on upgrades.
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