Philadelphia Daily News Dan Gross column: Dan Gross: Developer eyes Fishtown music venue [Philadelphia Daily News]

Aug. 26--DEVELOPER David Grasso hopes to bring a "state-of-the-art live-music venue" to Fishtown.

Grasso, a musician who plays guitar in Brothers from Another and who owns the record label F.O.F Entertainment, previously tried to open a House of Blues at the Grande (15th & Chestnut) and along Washington Avenue in South Philly.

"Between the TLA and Susquehanna Bank Center there is a gap in that space for a quality entertainment venue, for a place that bands want to play and people want to go and have a quality experience," Grasso said yesterday.

The venue, which he expects would hold about 2,800 people, would be on Richmond Street near Girard Avenue, in what is now a warehouse. The idea, Grasso says, is to have it be a "scalable venue able to configure itself to accommodate different types of events, touring bands, comedy shows, spoken word, theater." He hopes to start renovations early next year.

Grasso says the venue would be booked by "one of the largest promoters in the world." But he declined to comment when we asked him if he was referring to LiveNation, which lost access to a similarly sized venue, the Electric Factory (7th & Willow), earlier this year, when Larry Magid, who owns the venue, left the company. A LiveNation spokesman declined comment yesterday.

Although the property is not near any homes, Grasso said he is committed to getting the support of the Olde Richmond Civic Association and Fishtown Neighbors Association (FNA), which have concerns about issues such as parking, traffic and noise, and the space becoming a club. Grasso, who meets with the FNA at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the First Presbyterian Church of Kensington (418 E. Girard), says he has committed not to "do any DJ or club nights."

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The Jonas Brothers are playing a softball game at 12:15 tomorrow afternoon at Campbell's Field in Camden to promote awareness for Allstate's X the TXT program to dissuade teenagers from texting while driving. Before the game, Kevin, Nick and Joe Jonas will take Allstate's X the TXT pledge by putting their thumbprint on a banner traveling with the team.

The game is free and open to the public. Campbell's Field gates open at 11 a.m. The pop superstars perform tomorrow night at the Susquehanna Bank Center.

Garces 'Iron Chef' battles to air

"Iron Chef" Jose Garces has two battles on the Food Network show. At 10 p.m. Sept. 12 he'll take on Portland chef Naomi Pomeroy, and at 10 p.m. Sept. 26 he goes head-to-head with Washington, D.C., chef Katsuya Fukushima.

More Food Net news . . .

We've obtained a tentative schedule of air dates for the "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives," episodes that Guy Fieri shot in town and down the Shore last month.

The Good Dog (224 S. 15th) is to be featured Nov. 1, George's Place (301 Beach) in Cape May on Nov. 15, 10th Avenue Burrito (817 Belmar) in Belmar Nov. 29, the Memphis Taproom (2331 E. Cumberland) on Jan. 3, Quahog's Seafood Shack (206 97th) in Stone Harbor on Jan. 17, the Pineville Tavern (1098 Durham) in Pine-ville, on March 7 and Honey's Sit-N-Eat (800 N. 4th) on March 28.

Nice stirs it up

Philly-raised comedian Chuck Nice, regularly seen on VH1, Comedy Central and NBC's "Today" show stopped into Stir Lounge (1705 Chancellor) Saturday with his wife, Jessica, and a few friends. While his bride hit the dance floor, Nice posed for pictures and chatted with bar owner Stacey Vey, a former comic.

Ad for Danza's show

A&E has released a commercial for "Teach: Tony Danza," which premieres Oct. 1 on the cable channel. (You can watch the clip on our blog PhillyGossip.com.) Danza taught last school year at Northeast High School and lived in an apartment at the Piazza at Schmidts.

Cheerleaders scores in Vegas

Cheerleaders (Front & Oregon) won the Featured Club of the Year award at Tuesday night's Adult Nightclub and Exotic Dancer Awards in Las Vegas.

Visit PhillyGossip.com for Dan's latest updates or follow PhillyGossip on Twitter. Have a tip? Call 215-854-5963, or e-mail [email protected]. For recent columns, visit go.philly.com/dangross.

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