Saturday, September 05, 2015

Update: Church Rock Club in Boston's Fenway Closes, Restaurant Remains Open; Nix's Mate Eyes Space

[Ed note: This article was updated on September 15 to reflect the fact that the group behind Nix's Mate is looking to purchase the entire Church space.]

It looks like yet another Boston-area music club has closed its doors.

Vanyaland is reporting that Church in Boston's Fenway neighborhood shut down the music club section of the business yesterday, though its restaurant will remain in operation. The article says that the owner of the Kilmarnock Street venue has reached a deal to sell the club, though it is not yet known who has purchased it or what might become of the space. It appears that there will be a final weekend of live music at Church in a few weeks, so stay tuned.

[September 8 update: The Boston Globe mentions that all of Church--both the restaurant and the club--is being sold, while our sources indicate that the entire place will become a restaurant. (The name of the purchaser cannot be given at this point in time, so keep checking back for more updates.)]

[September 9 update: It appears that Church will reopen its club for at least one more night, as its Facebook page states that 7 Below - A Tribute To Phish will be playing there on Saturday, September 26. (The bottom of that event page also lists other shows coming to Church this month, but it is not known whether those have been canceled at this point.)]

[September 9 update #2: A phone call with the owner of Church this afternoon gave more insight as to its status--the music club part of the business is indeed closed now, though as stated above, the restaurant remains open. Both are in the process of being sold to a "local operator" who remains unnamed for now, and there is no specific timeframe on when the sale will be finalized or when the restaurant might close. More information will be coming, so expect more updates soon.]

[September 15 update: Universal Hub reports that the restaurant group behind Nix's Mate in Boston's Financial District (Bostonian Hospitality) is planning to purchase the entire Church space, including both the club and the restaurant, though the deal has not been finalized as of yet.]

Church is the latest in a line of music clubs to announce its closure, with T.T. the Bear's in Cambridge shutting down in July, Johnny D's in Somerville announcing that it will close early next year, and the Beachcomber in Quincy saying that it will close at the end of this month.

The address for Church is 69 Kilmarnock Sreet, Boston, MA, 02215. Its website can be found at http://www.churchofboston.com/

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[A related post from our sister site (Boston's Hidden Restaurants): List of Restaurant Closings and Openings in the Boston Area]