Article by: Ryan Hood
Photo Credit: IG @tritt_visuals
The iconic Shady Park restaurant and music venue in Tempe, Arizona will no longer host live music. This ruling comes from a judge who ruled in favor of Mirabella at ASU in the legal dispute between the two businesses. Mirabella is a luxury high-rise retirement community on the ASU campus that opened in 2020.
Mirabella filed its lawsuit following the easing of the COVID-19 restrictions in Arizona, which saw Shady Park resume its regularly scheduled live-music lineup. Mirabella quickly sued over noise complaints. Shady Park promptly closed its doors for renovations in an attempt to accommodate its new neighbors. After reopening, Mirabella stood pat on its suit.
The retirement community sits on the corner of one of the country’s premier bar districts, next to the country’s most populous college campus. Living at Mirabella and expecting quiet is like moving to Phoenix and expecting snow. Mirabella’s construction raised a lot of questions for a student population already struggling with housing. The goal was for older folks to be integrated into an already bustling and thriving community, but this has backfired in countless ways.
Shady Park is a cultural hub for the Arizona music community, hosting some of the nation’s best musicians when they stopped there. As someone who recently moved out of Arizona, shows at Shady are one of the things I miss most about the Grand Canyon State. Some of my fondest memories happened at that venue. Shady Park has encouraged patrons to remain civil towards Mirabella while standing in solidarity.
