Groundbreaking held for new downtown Greenville music venue

A groundbreaking event was held Thursday for a new music venue in downtown Greenville.

Located in old building space along Rhett Street and Wardlaw Street, the construction on the new music venue is expected to be completed in the first quarter of next year.

“We think that, once we’re open, we’ll have employed over 500 people including local musicians and local artists, so we expect to be a big contributor to the local community and the entertainment scene as a whole,” said Trueline founder and CEO Michael Grozier.

He explained that the venue space will consist of 1,700-capacity main hall, a VIP club called the Green Room, a small 400-person-capacity room called the Handlebar, and an indoor/outdoor space called the Clubhouse.

Greenville Mayor Knox White was also on hand at the event, where he expressed his excitement for the new niche of music entertainment the venue will bring to the city.

“For decades, there’s been a great desire for more music alternatives in Greenville,” Mayor White said. “We have a very rich musical tradition here, but we haven’t had the venues and the sufficient numbers that we really need. And this is what this is about, it’s about a music hall. It’s not the Peace Center, it’s not the Bon Secours center, it’s a smaller music hall for visiting musicians from across the Southeast to come.”