Indie theater Cinelounge has opened a drive-in location in Hollywood to find revenue during the pandemic, but owner Christian Meoli says that it is in serious need of federal aid (Photo: Christian Meoli)
But while multiple individuals called the application process straightforward, the road to opening the site was anything but. The SBA was tasked with creating a brand new grant application and distribution system practically from scratch in the midst of a pandemic and a turbulent transition period in the White House, with new SBA administrator Isabella Guzman receiving Senate confirmation only on March 18.
A plan to begin applications on April 8 was delayed for nearly three weeks to April 26 due to crashes on the grant application site. But that lag time allowed some applicants to prep their documents and attend webinars about the SBA’s byzantine grant requirements hosted by organizations like the National Association of Theater Owners.
UpdatedThu, Apr 22, 2021 at 11:33 am ET
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Ottobar, a Baltimore indie-rock music venue, lost 95 percent of its annual revenue when it was shut down during the pandemic. (David LaMason/Ottobar via Capitol News Service)
Independent music venues continue to struggle financially to survive even as Maryland eases pandemic restrictions and vaccine accessibility increases.
Tecla Tesnau, owner of Baltimore s indie-rock club Ottobar, said she remembers when she thought the pandemic was only going to last two weeks.
Subscribe It was all of a sudden, we just ran into this crazy brick wall of COVID, Tesnau said. We effectively went from a very successful business to zero business.
Maryland music venues struggle to stay afloat
Ottobar, a Baltimore indie-rock music venue, lost 95% of its annual revenue when it was shut down during the pandemic. (Photo Credit: Ottobar)
By MADISON HUNT
Independent music venues continue to struggle financially to survive while in the midst of Maryland’s lifted pandemic restrictions and vaccine accessibility.
Tecla Tesnau, owner of Baltimore’s indie-rock club Ottobar, said she remembers when she thought the pandemic was only going to last two weeks.
“It was all of a sudden, we just ran into this crazy brick wall of COVID,” Tesnau said. “We effectively went from a very successful business to zero business.”
Maryland music venues struggle to stay afloat amid pandemic
MADISON HUNT of Capital News Service
April 21, 2021
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Independent music venues continue to struggle financially to survive while in the midst of Maryland’s lifted pandemic restrictions and vaccine accessibility.
Tecla Tesnau, owner of Baltimore’s indie-rock club Ottobar, said she remembers when she thought the pandemic was only going to last two weeks.
“It was all of a sudden, we just ran into this crazy brick wall of COVID,” Tesnau said. “We effectively went from a very successful business to zero business.”
The home of rock lovers became a ghost town, and the once 30-member staff slowly went down to eight people as the pandemic continued, Tesnau said.