Done and Dome — Oceanfront venue to open in May

When Three Dog Night takes the stage May 4 at The Dome, the 1970s rock band will help open a new chapter in live performances at the Virginia Beach Oceanfront that it closed more than three decades ago. Known for hits such as “Joy to the World,” the band was the last group to play Virginia Beach’s Alan B. Shepard Convention Center, better known as The Dome because of its shape, on June 30, 1993. The aging venue, which hosted acts from Louis Armstrong to the Rolling Stones, was razed a year later. Though city officials sought to redevelop the 10-acre site, it sat vacant until about two years ago.

But this spring brings in a new era for live music in Virginia Beach, as the 3,500-seat concert venue opens. The Dome has room for 1,500 people outdoors, creating capacity for 5,000 people, says Kelly Flanigan, regional president of Live Nation Entertainment, which will operate and manage programming for the city-owned venue with Denver-based sports and entertainment company Oak View Group.

“There’s nothing really of this size” in the region, she says.

A public-private partnership with Live Nation, The Dome is part of the $350 million Atlantic Park project backed by musician Pharrell Williams and Venture Realty Group, which is also scheduled to open a 2.67-acre surf lagoon in May.

Atlantic Park is a multiphase project with 300 apartments, thousands of square feet of offices, retail and restaurants planned, as well as two city-owned parking garages. The city invested $152.7 million, including $55 million for The Dome, which will offer about 100 concerts and comedy shows year-round, and create 200 permanent jobs.

The Oceanfront area already hosts concerts, including the Something in the Water festival scheduled in April, and the 20,000-capacity Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater. Still, Flanigan says, The Dome will open the region to new acts that may have bypassed it previously.

Dough Boy’s Pizza owner George Kotarides, founder and past president of the Atlantic Avenue Association, says merchants are excited, although some are worried about parking for sold-out shows.

Mayor Bobby Dyer says the city is working aggressively to tackle parking woes, adding that The Dome will help Virginia Beach in its quest to become a “top tier destination. I have 100% confidence in Live Nation and our city management to confront this problem as it arises.”