Mississippi Studios Is Turning a North Portland Events Space Into a Part-Time Music Venue

Polaris Hall, formerly known as the North Star Ballroom, will be used primarily for community-oriented events, including about 30 concerts per year.

IMAGE: Courtesy of Kevin Cradock.

The owners of Mississippi Studios are adding another building to their growing constellation of music venues.

Kevin Cradock and Jim Brunberg have purchased the North Star Ballroom at 635 N Killingsworth Ct., which has served as an event space since the 1920s.

"It's a really funky building," says Cradock. "It looks like grandma's house, and it really hasn't been touched."

Cradock says the opportunity to buy the three-story brick building fell into their laps after a series of other offers fell through.

As with their other property, the much larger Revolution Hall, Cradock and co-owner Jim Brunberg plan to maintain its vintage design. But they are changing the name, to Polaris Hall—the formal astrological term for the actual North Star.

A popular wedding location, the hall will also remain available to rent for private events. Mississippi Studios will use the venue primarily for community-oriented events they're unable to accommodate at the main venue. (Cradock says the ballroom is roughly the same size.) In addition, they will book about 30 concerts per year, mostly of the acoustic variety, beginning with the release show for local singer-songwriter Shelley Short on Aug. 25.

After honoring the events booked prior to the sale, Cradock says the venue will close for about two months in early 2018 for renovations, which will include returning the vaulted ceiling the building once had.

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