For someone dedicated to the future of the arts and culture landscape in Saint Paul, it’s a nearly century-old building that has really captured the attention of Joe Spencer, the city’s arts and culture director since 2006.
“I fell in love when I walked in the space,” says Spencer of the historic Palace Theatre on West Seventh Place in downtown Saint Paul. Several months ago, it was announced that this gem from a bygone era will be renovated and reopened in 2016, coinciding with the building’s 100th anniversary.
“We have a unique opportunity to renovate the Palace in a way that shows its age and scars,” Spencer says. “I like the use of the term ‘arrested development’—you don’t fix a space all the way, but let it remain broken in a sense. That’s the charm.”
Once a vaudeville house that played host to entertainers including the Marx Brothers, the Palace was a movie theater for several years before being shuttered in 1977. In 1983, the venue was used for a year for A Prairie Home Companion, while the nearby Fitzgerald Theater was being refurbished.
According to Spencer, the restored Palace Theatre will occupy a vital niche in downtown Saint Paul. “We have our fill of traditional, formal theater venues,” he says, citing the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts and the History Theatre. “What we don’t have here is a theater that has the flexibility of having seats or not having seats [depending on the performance].” While the current seating capacity for the Palace is 1,800, there are ways, with the removal of seats, to accommodate as many as 3,000 patrons, he says.
Spencer, 39, believes concertgoers in their 20s and 30s, including himself, like the option of standing at a concert. “Personally, I don’t like sitting down at shows. I like being at a high top, being able to have a beer and enjoy the experience that way,” he says, adding that this is an option envisioned for the renovated Palace.
With this type of venue in Saint Paul, Spencer says popular artists such as Lorde are more likely to be interested in booking a show here. “She was touring last year and looking for a 3,000-seat general admission theater, which we didn’t have,” he says. Asked about his future “dream performers” for the Palace when it opens, Spencer cites local heavy-hitters such as Trampled by Turtles, Atmosphere and Bob Mould, adding that he believes comedians like Louis C.K. and others would also “work well” in this type of venue.
According to Spencer, the financing for the Palace renovation is in place with $5 million from the state of Minnesota, in conjunction with a facility-use fee and a financial arrangement with a managing partner.
Joe Spencer with R & B great Allen Touissant at a past Twin Cities Jazz Festival. Photo by Andrea Canter
Progress Ahead
The Palace Theatre is just one in a series of projects in Saint Paul in which Spencer has been involved, including the launching of the Amsterdam Bar and Hall, the Twin Cities Jazz Festival in Mears Park and Lowertown’s Concrete and Grass Festival. It is these and other events that have helped to bring people back downtown and change the perception of the capital city, once (not wrongly) considered something of a ghost town when it came to a thriving entertainment scene.
“For a long time, we’ve done kids really well—with the Science Museum and Children’s Museum—and they draw thousands every year,” Spencer says. “We also do the 55 and older crowd well—the Minnesota Opera and Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra are very successful, and our professional theater companies are a draw. Now our focus and strategies are about how to attract the young-adult crowd.”
Spencer credits Mayor Chris Coleman with helping to meet the challenge of enhancing the arts and culture scene in Saint Paul, and says the mayor “has supported every step.” For his part, Coleman recognizes Spencer’s success in his role.
“When looking at how we could reinvigorate downtown Saint Paul, it was clear that we needed more than just a brick-and-mortar approach,” Coleman says. “It is truly the arts that bring economic development, and Joe Spencer brought that community back to life. We owe much of our newfound vitality and growth to the work he has done.”
Jon Oulman, a co-owner of the Amsterdam, recalls “a long courting process” instigated by Mayor Coleman and Spencer, to bring the music venue to fruition. As they worked to firm up details, Oulman, who is also a co-owner of the 331 Club in Minneapolis, says the “give and take conversation was a great experience” and now counts Spencer as a friend.
According to Oulman, the Amsterdam caters to the downtown office crowd for happy hour, since Wells Fargo and Ecolab are close by, but then draws a more varied group in the evening—music lovers eager to hear all varieties of music from indie rock to alt country.
From the music scene to new bars and restaurants, along with more young adults moving into Lowertown, Spencer is encouraged by the progress the city has made and is excited about what lies ahead.
“A few weeks ago, I was talking to a young guy who told me he used to live in Minneapolis, but said, ‘It’s dead there now; this is where the action is,’” Spencer says. “I wanted to hug him.”
What is Spencer’s vision for the city? “On any given evening, on any given corner, there is an energy and pulse to the street life that people want to be around,” he says. “Anywhere you go in Saint Paul, you’ll stumble into a good time.”
The Spencer Files
Some of Joe Spencer’s Saint Paul favorites.
- Favorite coffee shop: The Finnish Bistro in St. Anthony Park. “Every Friday morning, I take my son there for doughnuts.” Spencer and his wife, Joanne, have two children: Emerson, 9, and Harriet, 6.
- Go-to date night spot: Meritage
- Preferred place for a casual business meeting: The Rival House
- Best place to feel the history of Saint Paul: “When you’re standing at the center of both Rice Park and Mears Park, you recognize what rich spots they are,” he says. “So many significant historical buildings are all around you.”
- There’s no doubt that Joe Spencer is a music fan, but what do his kids like? “I try to limit my kids’ exposure to music I don’t like,” he says with a laugh. “Right now, my daughter has the biggest crush on Jeremy Messersmith.” Spencer and his son are partial to the Foo Fighters and “a little bit of the Beastie Boys.”
