Shell’s Concert Season Begins Thursday

It was built for less than $12,000 in the 1930s by the city of Memphis and the Works Progress Administration.

But to relaunch the Levitt Shell at Overton Park – which the city closed a few years ago after years of inactivity and disrepair – it took a $1.3 million renovation plus the addition of new equipment, volunteers, staff, an office space and much more. That effort was years in the making, and it culminates Thursday night with the kickoff of the new shell’s inaugural concert season.

Justin Townes Earle, the son of prominent singer-songwriter Steve Earle, will open the show. The spotlight then will fall on Amy LaVere, a petite country crooner who plays an upright bass guitar that’s larger than she is. And with their performance, the two of them will bring back to life the Memphis music venue where a young Elvis Presley played his first show in 1954.Gathering spot

For Elvis, who wasn’t even the main act on the bill for that July show, the shell most likely was a simple outdoor pavilion. For the Friends of the Levitt Shell – the local backers of the revamped performing space – the venue is something more. It goes beyond the new design, the archway and sleek projection screens that flank the main stage.

“It’s so much more than just a venue,” said Anne Pitts, executive director of Friends of the Levitt Shell. “The shell, coupled with the (concert) programming – it really becomes almost like a community center. We’re going to be offering 50 free concerts a year, and we designed our programming to include a wide array of different genres.

“So it puts the shell on the map, but it also creates a sense of community. With the programming style and everything being free, it becomes a thing that’s open to everyone. The performances become a tool in building our community. It’s a place where people can come get to know their neighbors. And each other.”

That sense of community is even reflected in the renovated shell itself, which was designed by Askew Nixon Ferguson Architects. Lee Askew, the firm’s founder, lives near the shell and Overton Park.

Memphis College of Art, another tenant of Overton Park, is one of the group’s many financial backers and is letting Friends of the Levitt Shell use office space at the college.

“This historic venue has been the epicenter of Memphis entertainment for over 70 years,” said Judith Johnson, a former executive director of Memphis Heritage Inc. “And I am sure many citizens of our community share fond memories of this modest outdoor amphitheater with its old-fashioned wooden benches under the blazing sun or starry skies.”

The namesake

The refurbished shell takes its name from Mortimer Levitt, the late businessman who built an empire of menswear stores around the country. Levitt, who died in 2005, also was an arts patron and the namesake of a Los Angeles-based foundation set up to fund arts and community-related projects around the country.

Pitts said the Levitt Foundation is funding some of the roughly $500,000 budget of the Memphis shell, with private support and other grant money making up the rest. The foundation is funding shells elsewhere around the country, including in Los Angeles and Pasadena, Calif.; Westport, Conn.; and Arlington, Texas.

“With all these pavilions and shells, they provide the performance budgets for the first five years,” Pitts said. “They were also very kind to contribute to our capital campaign and make it possible for us to do the $1.3 million renovation.”

The city of Memphis committed half a million dollars to fund the shell’s renovation, and the city also is helping maintain the shell.

The people working behind the scenes at the moment include Pitts and an assistant, plus a production crew, a board of directors for the Memphis shell and an army of more than 65 volunteers. Pitts said the local group also is looking to hire a director of development.

“Without all of those hands, there’s just no way we could have been able to accomplish this,” Pitts said. “It’s just amazing how fantastic the Memphis community has been to bring the shell back.”

 

ANDY MEEK | The Daily News