Orpheum Theatre sues Holocaust museum over alley access

Anyone who has attended a concert at the Orpheum Theatre in downtown Boston has passed through the quirky alley that leads to the historic venue’s nestled marquee and entrance. That alley is at the heart of a complaint the Orpheum’s operator has against its future neighbor.

Crossroads Presents LLC’s lawsuit, filed in Suffolk Superior Court this week, claims construction underway for the new Holocaust Museum and Education Center is blocking critical access to the venue at the back end of Hamilton Place.

The concert promoter appears to have been attempting to reach a friendly solution before filing the lawsuit. In a letter to the Holocaust Legacy Foundation’s board of directors dated Aug. 13, Crossroads attorney Alan Lipkind wrote, “The Orpheum Theatre welcomes the opportunity to fully support the Holocaust Legacy Foundation’s mission to preserve and perpetuate the memory and lessons of the Holocaust for future generations.”

The letter went on to call Hamilton Place a fitting location for Boston’s first museum dedicated to the Holocaust, but said the theater’s primary concern was physical access — “which will be impeded should construction move forward as planned, without an agreement between us.”

The Orpheum Theatre hosts around 40 events per year, the letter continued, requiring musicians, vehicles and concert-goers to pass through Hamilton Place.

The company’s lawsuit, first reported on by the Boston Business Journal, states the museum is preventing the venue from using sections of the alley it needs to load in production equipment from 75-foot-long trucks and associated vehicles.

Crossroads is requesting the court affirm it has an easement on the alley as a result of its decades-long use of it.

Lawyers for Crossroads shared documents on Thursday, but declined an interview request. And representatives from the Holocaust Legacy Foundation that’s building the museum responded to WBUR in an email saying, “As a matter of policy, we do not comment on pending litigation.”

In a statement about the legal action, Crossroads (which is part-owned by Live Nation) said:

“We are confident that a thoughtful agreement and careful coordination will support both organizations in a way that limits disruption to construction or operations of the Museum. We have proposed viable solutions (by way of temporary bollards) that we are prepared to fund. Unfortunately, the Museum’s leadership has been unwilling to pursue this compromise or other solutions. While we had hoped to avoid litigation, we cannot risk that performances will be unable to proceed due to lack of access. The Orpheum remains willing to reach agreement amicably if we can do so before events begin this fall.”

The filing comes just days before the Orpheum’s new season is set to kick into gear this weekend with a concert by Mexican American singer-songwriter Ivan Cornejo. A hearing about the alley conflict is scheduled for Friday.

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.