A building that once hosted grain-and-feed expositions, Shakespeare plays, boxing matches, and a young Jimi Hendrix is on track to reopen as a 4,000-seat music venue in downtown Colorado Springs. The renamed CityAud, housed inside the 1923 structure at 221 E. Kiowa St., is aiming for a first-quarter 2027 debut after an extensive remodel that has stripped the building down to its bones and rebuilt it for touring concerts, Broadway shows and more.
The project is being led by promoter Jesse Morreale, whose company was selected by the City of Colorado Springs in June 2025 as the auditorium’s new managing operator, according to KRDO. As reported by Westword, Morreale has a personal history with the building: he grew up in Colorado Springs, attended nearby Palmer High School, and saw Mötley Crüe perform at what was then called the Municipal Auditorium when he was just thirteen years old.
Morreale told Westword that the project appeals to his background in historic preservation, and the numbers behind the deal explain why the city was willing to hand over the keys. The agreement structures an initial five-year lease with four optional five-year renewals, and it requires Morreale’s company to fund all capital improvements, modernization, and deferred maintenance without taxpayer money, while the city retains ownership of the property, according to CelebrityAccess.
A Century of Grain Expos, Ballets and Rock Legends
The building’s roots run deep. Completed in 1923 at a construction cost of $424,910, the auditorium was added to the National Register of Historic Places on November 7, 1995, per Wikipedia. Local architects Thomas MacLaren, Charles E. Thomas and Thompson D. Hetherington designed the Classical Revival hall, which still bears the Latin inscription “USUI CIVIUM DECORI URBIS” — “For the use of the people and the glory of the city” — above the main stage…