The renovations of Appalachian State’s on-campus nightclub Legends, which were previously reported to be taking place this semester, have been postponed, Jeff Cathey, director of the Department of Student Engagement & Leadership, confirmed.
Conversations about renovating Legends had been going on for over a year, Cathey said. In April, an email was sent to members of the Appalachian Popular Programming Society announcing that the renovations were to begin soon after the start of the Fall 2017 semester, and that Legends would be offline for the remainder of the semester.
After the Chase Rice concert at the venue on Sept. 14, the Legends marquee read, “Closed for spectacular renovations – Thanks Randy Kelly for 31 years.” The concert was also Randy Kelly’s final show before his retirement from his roles as Legends manager and program advisor for the Department of Student Engagement & Leadership.
However, conversations recently arose between various university departments regarding budget conflicts and plans, which resulted in the decision to cancel the renovations for this semester.
“It’s simply that what’s going on right now, there’s several different priorities in various stages of planning, with budget and various resources that are somewhat in conflict with one another,” Cathey said. “And the result of that, for the time being at least, is that the Legends renovations are being postponed.”
Cathey could not confirm when the renovations will be taking place or what the university’s specific plans are, but he said that a group involving students is being put together to discuss the venue’s future and its importance to App’s campus.
“So we have to wait until we figure out what some of these unknowns are, while also working to champion how important the function that Legends offers is for our students and then move forward,” Cathey said. “We’re gonna get a group together to make sure Legends is at the table with all these other conversations happening.”
The next event at Legends will be The Remarks’ album release show on Oct. 19.
Story By: Adrienne Fouts, A&E Editor
Photo By: Emily Nance, Intern Photographer