From the outside, it may not appear that much work is happening at the City Auditorium. But construction is ramping up inside to keep the 103-year-old concert and event venue on track to reopen around the start of 2027.

The city announced last year that it would contract with AVA Presents, a concert promotion company led by Colorado Springs native Jesse Morreale, to take over the management and rehabilitation of the city-owned building.

Over the last several months, Morreale looked inside the walls to vet the building’s condition. He said he was pleasantly surprised by what he found.

“There is no compromised roof area. There are no big areas of standing water or water damage or plaster decay,” Morreale said. “Kudos to the people who built it 100 years ago. They did a really good job.”

For decades the auditorium hosted big-name musicians, from Little Richard and Jimi Hendrix to Megadeth and Sarah McLachlan. The venue also hosted local events such as basketball games and political rallies and, most recently, served as a temporary shelter during the COVID-19 pandemic.

AVA was the city’s second attempt in recent years to rehabilitate the downtown auditorium. The city previously entered into an agreement with the nonprofit Colorado Springs Community Cultural Collective to raise money to renovate the building, but the collective ended that agreement in 2023 over fundraising challenges.

Morreale worked with the auditorium in the 1990s as a concert booker and promoter, which was one of the reasons the city chose him to oversee the building’s future.

“He knows the facility. He knows how we operated it in the past. It’s very much a passion project for him,” said Kim King, assistant director of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services.

King and other city officials meet with Morreale at least once a month to check in on the renovation’s progress and approve any of the larger construction projects that will take place.

The biggest changes over the next few months will be deep inside the auditorium. Morreale said updating safety measures and accessibility were some of the immediate concerns. The work will also focus on modernizing areas for the audience and for the performers backstage.

“Patrons had very different expectations about what a concert is going to look like, sound like, feel like. So we’re determining what is still there and what needs to be done to meet those needs,” Morreale said.

Morreale said bands have more demand for power during concerts than in the past and need a larger space behind the scenes to get ready because of the size of the touring party.

He’s been in conversation with acts interested in playing the auditorium once it reopens, but he said he will not start booking shows until the reopening date is more certain.