A 242 Main Resource Center
Introduction
For more than 30 years, 242 Main was a gathering spot for the youth of northwestern Vermont. Organized by the City of Burlington’s Youth Office (started by Bernie Sanders when he was mayor), 242 provided a haven for young misfits and fans of underground music. It was part music venue, part musician proving ground, and part teen drop-in center. With programming driven by teens, it became America’s longest-running all-ages punk rock venue and a sanctuary anchored in the hearts of thousands.
After decades of deferred maintenance and neglect, the city closed the doors to Memorial Auditorium, the city-owned building that 242 Main is located in. The structure was deemed too unsafe to occupy. When 242 Main was shuttered in 2016, no city leaders spoke about what it had meant to generations of young people. Our mayor was chasing a dream of bulldozing Memorial Auditorium to build a new hockey arena with a local university.
Many of us know what it means to have a safe space where young people can make their own decisions and learn from each other how to be boldly creative, or to have an opinion and be confident in their self-worth — in a place where their voices and differences are respected. 242 Main was that place in Burlington for more than 30 years. It could be again.
The volunteers of Big Heavy World have been challenging the city to repair Memorial Auditorium and reinstate 242 Main, pursuing this mission respectfully and with persistence. From speaking at public meetings to confronting elected officials — we’ve demanded support for Burlington’s emerging generations and for the legacy the last generations gave us when they made history at 242 Main. We’re gathering the stories of the people who experienced it, and the artifacts that remind us of how much young people have contributed to Vermont’s cultural experience.
Some of this work is collected here. It’s meant to help us widen a common understanding of how valuable 242 Main — and teen-led cultural spaces — are to Burlington. In the past, 242 Main played a part in shaping many lives, giving strength and definition to several generations. In our modern time, issues of equity, fairness, and inclusion feed a vision for a new teen-led safe space. The past and the present meet here, where we all can lean into a future where there’s a new 242.
the Values & Vision of teen-led spaces
Photo of Spies In America at 242 Main (above) and banner of December 6, 2016 crowd (below) by Tim Snow.
Photo by Tim Snow.
Research: Teen-led cultural centers: local and international values and examples
In 2021 Big Heavy World began compiling a document to help civic leaders live up to their responsibility to the young adults of Burlington. It is a starting point for naming the values that are critical to serving teens by giving them ownership of a creative space and its programming; by empowering them to reflect on critical social themes and their intersection with the operation of a facility; by making sure that the roots of civic engagement, creativity, critical thought, social responsibility, compassion, inclusion and equity all grow strong in Burlington.
It also reflects the needs of modern society to ensure that young people of all backgrounds and interests are served by the city’s democratic investments; that best practices are recognized and that teens are given the equity and trust that will ensure they become more effective participants in their communities.
This work was made possible with support from the U.S. State Department Young Leaders of the Americas Initiative (YLAI).
BTC Students on 105.9FM The Radiator.
Radio Program: High School Students Explore Future of Teen-Led Cultural Centers in Burlington
High school students in Burlington wrapped-up a semester of exploring their vision for a modern teen-led cultural space with a radio broadcast about their work. ‘Indie Kingdom,’ a collaboration between Big Heavy World and the Digital Media Lab (DML) of Burlington Technical Center, guided students through reviewing the story of 242 Main — the city’s historic teen-led music venue — and conversations with leaders in fields related to creating safe performing spaces. Then, students interviewed their peers to gather a contemporary strategy for a teen-led cultural center that would meet the modern needs of their generation. Their research and conversations became a one-hour radio program that aired on 105.9FM The Radiator.
This program was made possible with funding from a 2021 Local Heritage Grant from the Champlain Valley National Heritage Partnership.
City Hall, Burlington, Vermont.
Petition Comments: The Public Describes how it values 242 main
So far, the Save242Main.com petition has gathered over 2,200 signatures and 30+ pages of comments by the public. Download a PDF of the comments to learn how broadly 242 Main was valued. (And add your signature!)
The bulletin board by the door to 242 Main in October, 2021.
Advocacy to save 242 Main: Remind city hall of its commitment to youth & culture
The public conversation about valuing youth spaces and saving 242 Main began in 2016. It was uphill: The mayor chose a path of offering Memorial Auditorium for destruction and replacement before its future could be decided by a public process. City councilors seemed inclined to call the auditorium a lost cause before considering that prior generations created the building as a sacred memorial that was intended to sustain a commons for gathering and community-building even in Vermont’s coldest months. It’s the duty of City Council to live up to this responsibility and sustain the structure and its purpose, but the council was silent. When the building was closed in December, 2016, there was no statement by the mayor or city councilors about the legacy of 242 Main. The city’s leadership had seemingly abandoned it… and the city’s young adults.
Big Heavy World’s volunteers began to face this early, bringing attention to the concern that Burlington’s teens — and voters in general — were not being treated fairly. The crew spoke at public meetings, wrote letters, had meetings and conversations with civic leaders, published commentary, and organized community members. Eventually most of the city’s political wards (political divisions on the the city map) supported a resolution asking for reinstatement of 242 Main. Every Neighborhood Planning Assembly — local neighborhood political bodies in each ward — worked together to hold a city-wide meeting in City Hall to provide a platform for public input, which turned out to be overwhelmingly supportive of restoring the auditorium. On the eve of that meeting, the mayor announced that there would be a public process to determine the future of Memorial Auditorium.
That eventual public process included a survey that more people responded to than were ever expected to — more than 2,500 residents of Burlington replied, with overwhelming support for restoring Memorial Auditorium and returning “Youth music space” and “Youth-led program space” to future activities there. Even in the middle of this public support, volunteers had to speak up to prevent 242 Main from becoming a storage space on the new floor plan — a strong caution that advocacy to restore 242 Main requires vigilance by everyone who cares about it.
Below are some ways you can contribute your voice to saving 242 Main and making sure the leaders of Burlington’s city government learn how necessary it is to have a resource like this. Every voice counts — voices are what matters to politicians who make decisions like these. We can be fearless while being kind and respectful: Step forward with us to help Burlington recover from the bad decisions, neglect, and ignorance that cost us a legendary safe space for teens.
Sign the Save242Main.com petition. Add your name and comment to the powerful 2,200+ signatures who support returning 242 Main to a restored Memorial Auditorium.
Email or call Burlington’s city councilors and Mayor Weinberger. Be recognized for your values and convictions by the representatives who are elected to act on them.
Fight Back at 242 Main. Photo by Tim Snow.
Let Burlington’s City Councilors know that the new Percent for Public Art ordinance unfairly supports the visual arts by excluding the performing arts of Burlington — including 242 Main and Memorial Auditorium — from capital funding for live music spaces and staff.
For more background on the City’s path toward restoring Memorial Auditorium, see the Community & Economic Development Office web page. To follow the advocacy of Big Heavy World’s Executive Director, visit his personal blog at CherryCoal.com. To talk to city leaders in person you can speak at the beginning of any full city council or city council committee meeting during their “Public Comment“ agenda items — see the city meeting calendar.
Visit a Timeline about the effort to save 242 Main and make sure city leaders are committed to having teen-led programming in Burlington.
“When the city wants to build a marina, it builds a marina. When the city wants to build a skatepark, it builds a world class skatepark. All the city has to do is want to preserve a cinderblock hall with more historic and cultural relevance than anything else it’s built in the last thirty years.” — Anyone
No Stage Diving: The Story of 242 Main
A Documentary Film
No Stage Diving: The Story of 242 Main celebrates the history and legacy of this historic venue, and, in the words of those whose lives were touched by it, explores what the space meant to the community it served. Documentarian Bill Simmon (High Water Mark: The Rise and Fall of The Pants) filmed more than 60 interviews. Now filmmaker Mark Covino (A Band Called Death) is editing these stories with hundreds of photos, posters and archival tapes. The movie will be submitted to festivals in 2022 and a vinyl LP soundtrack will be available. The film will give the world a look at Vermont’s legendary contribution to the history of all-ages venues. To join the volunteers on the production crew at Big Heavy World, get in touch.
Mark Covino, Producer/Editor.
Bill Simmon, Filmmaker.
Below are a few short film interview outtakes from across several generations. More of 242 Main’s family can be heard in an interactive exhibit at the Tiny Museum of Vermont Music History at Big Heavy World, open Wednesdays 6-8pm.
