Buddy Holly Hall set to bring major entertainers, tourism to the Hub City

LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) - Construction on the Buddy Holly Hall is wrapping up and within coming months the two performing halls, ballet studio and restaurant will be open to the public.

This 153 million dollar privately funded and state of the art facility has noise control levels, architecture and sophistication that could bring headline performers, tourism and hundreds of news jobs to Lubbock, said Tim Collins with the Lubbock Entertainment Performing Arts Association.

“You’ve got retail. You’ve got engineering. You’ve got trucking. You’ve got sound. You’ve got lighting. You’ve got all of that really has nothing to do with the singer, dancer or song. Those are the things where I am saying there are a lot of job opportunities that we don’t recognize here in Lubbock And the arts play a huge part of our economy,” Collins said.

The main attraction is the large performing hall that seats thousands of people. Collins said the noise control levels are at 15, which is the same as Carnegie Hall.

The first performance will be the Lubbock Symphony Orchestra on Jan. 23 and it’s already sold out.

The large stage and accommodating back stage equipment is set to bring Broadway performances and other major entertainers, which Collins said could keep college students and quality professionals to stay in Lubbock.

“They are gonna look at the city. Well if we move to Lubbock what are we going to get . What will my family have an opportunity to do? When we talk about recruiting that’s very very important,” Collins said.

Although live entertainment is on pause as we continue to battle the coronavirus pandemic, Collins said local artists and musicians will have access to the facility. Students at Lubbock ISD will have the smaller performing theater to use. The Crickets Theater seats 400 people and also has noise control levels of 15.

Collins said the Buddy Holly Hall has the potential to cater to future UIL competitions and events.

In addition, Lubbock Ballet has their own studio attached to the Buddy Holly Hall. Collins said the studio is the same size as the main stage theater.

Beyond Entertainment, United Supermarkets is in charge of the restaurant inside called Rave On. It can seat up to 100 people inside or outside. This resturant will bring hundreds of jobs and could revitalize downtown traffic, especially in the arts district.

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