Party brings energy back to power plant

AUSTIN (KXAN) - An Austin City Limits Music Festival after-party is generating plenty of buzz - the venue is drawing as much attention as the bands.

After jumping through hoops, Rare Magazine secured the historic Seaholm Power Plant, which was built in the 1950s to generate power to the City of Austin. The party scheduled for Friday and Saturday night is being called the Live at Seaholm Afterfest .

"I think anybody that's in the events business has always dreamed of doing something in here underneath the big huge smoke stack-looking structures," said Jason Hicks, Director of Events for Rare Magazine.

The dormant building will provide a backdrop for Canadian indie rock band Broken Social Scene , Generationals , and the Austin rock band Corto Maltese . The first 4,000 fans who RSVP will get a spot on the lawn, and Hicks said the list is long and growing. No doubt, fans will be focused on more than the music.

"I think a lot of the draw is just gonna be the building itself," said Hicks.

But only people with VIP passes will get a peek inside where a lounge will be set up. A light show will also shine through the original windows and illuminate the historic equipment still hanging from the 65 foot ceiling.

Securing the spot came at a cost sonsors were willing to pay, and plenty of security will be on hand. Event planners can only imagine the energy that will fill the old power plant in a few days.

There are long-term plans for the city-owned property that sits on an 8-acre site off West Cesar Chavez. Developers with Seaholm Power, LLC are working on a site plan and subdivision plan that includes a hotel, condos, restaurant, retail and office space. Construction is slated to begin in the middle of 2010.

"Even though it's taken us four years to get it started, everything that's going on around here is just dynamic and exciting and just really will make this a lot more successful in the long run," said John Rosato, Managing Partner with Seaholm Power, LLC.

New condos and cranes surround the land that runs along Lady Bird Lake. Rosato said it is only a matter of time before energy will be restored to the old power plant permanently.

For more information on the Life at Seaholm Afterfest click here.