BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) – After a fight that went all the way to the state’s highest court, a surprise twist in the saga to move a South Burlington concert venue to Burlington’s South End. Higher Ground now says Burton Snowboards pulled out of a deal to lease its property.
This story stretches back more than five years from when Burton and Higher Ground announced plans to locate a 1,500-person concert venue on the Burton campus, near the Burlington-South Burlington line.
Just last week, after a long legal fight, the Vermont Supreme Court cleared the way for Higher Ground to open on the Burton campus.
But Wednesday, Higher Ground posted a statement on social media saying they will not be relocating. In part, the statement reads: “We are deeply disheartened that Burton has decided to change direction in their plans for the building we were to occupy. This resulted in a significant loss of time and resources for Higher Ground.”
The news was welcomed by people who live near Burton and fought to stop the project.
“A little stunned but really relieved. We’ve been working on this for about four years,” said Doug Goodman, a neighbor.
As many as 140 different neighbors raised tens of thousands of dollars to fight Higher Ground’s plan. They argued the concert venue would cause traffic and noise disruptions in the neighborhood.
The neighbors have won for now, but the Supreme Court ruling means a venue of some sort isn’t out of the question for the Burton site in the future.
“We’ll cross that bridge if we come to it. We’re here and we’re not going anywhere. We all live here,” Goodman said.
Burlington City Councilor Ben Traverse says both Burton and Higher Ground have been great stewards for the city and he hopes they will continue to work with the city.
“I’m sure that if Burton is not heading in the direction of the concert venue that they’re going to have other great and exciting plans for this venue. I’m also sure and hope that Higher Ground will continue to have a presence here in Burlington and perhaps even in the South End,” said Traverse, D-Burlington City Council president.
In its statement, Higher Ground says they are continuing to seek a venue in the Queen City.
We reached out to both Higher Ground and Burton for an interview but did not hear back before this story was published.