The Lynn City Council honored Jamie Marsh for his outstanding leadership and excellent work in his position as general manager of the Lynn Auditorium located inside City Hall.
A regular schedule of shows featuring well-known entertainers has been a tremendous success in the city and an economic boost to downtown restaurants on show days and nights. A new air conditioning system is slated to be ready for the July 11 Cesar Millan show.
City Council President Timothy Phelan said the auditorium was renovated in 2006 and the first concert was the Boston Pops Orchestra under the direction of conductor Keith Lockhart.
“We’ve been going eight years strong since and the one person that has been here from the beginning who oversaw the renovations to now is Jamie Marsh and we just celebrated the 50th big ticket show,” said Phelan. “The City Council is here to recognize all the hard work that Jamie put in to this over the years.”
Phelan said the auditorium has been a success story “for eight years running.”
“It’s great for the downtown economy, it’s great for the city of Lynn and the city’s image and really the person who oversaw the renovations, the marketing, and advertising is Jamie Marsh, who has played a leadership role in doing and the Council is honoring him and it’s long overdue.”
Phelan also commended his colleagues on the City Council for approving a $400,000 bond so that a new air conditioning system could be installed in the auditorium.
Rick Ford, vice president of the Council, also praised Marsh, saying, “Jamie has done a great job through the years and we’re all very proud of him and we hope to get bigger and better here.”
Councilor-at-Large Buzzy Barton said, “Jamie is second to none. He’s done a great job.”
Councilor Wayne Lozzi said, “The honor and recognition that we’re giving Jamie Marsh is well-deserved. It’s been a great boon to the city and the downtown.”
Marsh, who is also the city’s director of community development, said in 2001 when he served as deputy chief of staff to former Mayor Edward Clancy Jr., he and the mayor took a tour of City Hall, “And we saw this jewel sitting here underutilized and piece by piece put it back together over the past 12 years.”
“The auditorium has been a wonderful success financially for the city and even more important, it’s been a success for the businesses,” said Marsh. “For me it’s more about the economic spinoff in addition to the arts that we bring.”
Mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy said the auditorium has come a long way since the Boston Pops concert in 2006.
“In the last few years we’ve hired a professional booking agent, brought professional bartending services here, and we have professional security for the bigger shows,” said Kennedy. “And all of these improvements have certainly brought the Lynn Auditorium to become the Class-A destination that it is now.
“Jamie has been wonderful and he and Henry Ryan, who is our booking agent, have done a tremendous job in promoting the shows at the auditorium and bringing the big-name acts in over the last few years and turning this into a wonderful entertainment spot for people from the North Shore and beyond.”