The future location of Capital City Music Hall
You may have heard that a new music venue is being planned for downtown Harrisburg. But details have been sparse—until now.
Capital City Music Hall, which will occupy the former Federal Taphouse space at 234 N. 2nd St., is undergoing renovations to prepare for a mid-summer opening, according to new owner Justin Browning.
Browning, who also owns JB Lovedrafts, Sawyers and Nocturnal along the same block on 2nd Street, said he felt this venue plays heavily into plans for rebooting 2nd Street.
“Harrisburg is my home, my hometown, and my partner [Craig Dunkle] and I both agreed that in order to help ‘Restaurant Row’ and rebuild the downtown dining district, a live music venue could be key to that,” Browning said.
The team is hoping that, much like bigger cities like Philly and Baltimore, folks will visit for the shows, dine at the local restaurants and stay afterwards to enjoy the nightlife in the area, he said.
No clear determinations have been made on occupancy yet, as that’ll be up to the fire marshal, but Browning expects the space to hold about the same number of patrons from the building’s time as the former Dragonfly nightclub, which he believes held about 1,000.
The club will book all genres of music, Browning stated, adding that the new name beckons to the city and is a different direction from the metal and punk scenes that Lovedrafts Brewing Co. in Mechanicsburg drew.
“We’re still doing Lovedrafts Presents events for punk, metal, hard core, just to continue that legacy, but this bigger space is us trying to grow up a little bit, I guess,” Browning said.
According to Browning, that means greater flexibility.
“If we want to do bluegrass or country, folk or hip-hop, or indie genre type things,” he said.
The talent team at the club will book a mix of national tours and local acts, Browning said. In time, the plan is to add a variety of programming, including comedians, special presentations featuring panels and conversations with authors, filmmakers, and the like to take advantage of all the space has to offer.
Getting into details for the interior of the space, Browning said it’s going to look very similar to what patrons saw at Federal Taphouse so that performers have a blank canvas to work with, though the exposed kitchen space has been removed to make way for a stage.
The bars on the first and second floors will remain in place. However, as long as floor plans are approved, Browning is hoping to open up the center of the second floor to create a mezzanine level. The lighting and audio elements are also being upgraded for guests to have a high-quality audiovisual experience.
Additionally, visitors can take advantage of the pass-through that’ll exist between Nocturnal and Capital City Music Hall since the two connected properties are now under the same ownership.
“Unlike Lovedrafts Brewing, we’ll be using an extension of our liquor license from Nocturnal, so we’ll be able to serve all spirits, not just PA brands,” he said.
Keep an eye out for announcements about a July opening, though the timing remains in flux due to the approval process.
“Right now, we are finalizing variance applications with the city,” Browning said.
If you like what we do, please support our work. Become a Friend of TheBurg!
