Above: Ribbon Cutting at University Surgical on South County Trail. From left: EG Chamber’s Steve Lombardi; Matt Uustall, University Surgical Associates executive director; Therese Vezeridis, EG Chamber Board member; Dr. Michael Vezeridis; EG Chamber Ambassador Harry Waterman; Dr. Thomas Miner, Dr. Carla Moreiara, and Jerilyn Parker, site manager.

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Second floor demo at the Odeum.

Construction on the second floor of the Odeum is under way but the nonprofit theater is still looking to close a fundraising gap so they don’t have to shortchange the new upstairs lounge and balcony area.

“We are 86 percent of the way there,” said board member Kevin Muoio, having raised $520,000 toward a $600,000 goal.

 By adding seats, the theater will be able to attract bigger-name artists, Muoio said. 

“With the second floor, we’re going to have greater buying power for artists that are out of our range now, with 65 more seats and we’ll also have standing room of another 10 people.”

Muoio said the additional seats probably won’t impact every show, but would make a difference for acts like the recent Tower of Power show that sold out months ago. 

“Those shows, if we had a balcony, we would have been able to sell more tickets,” he said. “It’s about taking the Odeum literally up to the next level.”

Walls may be coming down upstairs but the shows will continue without a break, with construction during the day and shows at night, along with a barrier to block the dust from entering the theater proper.

Muoio said he’s excited about the balcony seats. Early assessments are those seats might be the best in the house. 

The upstairs lounge will offer the Odeum more options for rental as well, as well as it being a spot for more intimate performances.

The lounge will have a full size bar and extra bathrooms too.

“If a company wanted to come in and have a pre-performance cocktail party in the lounge, they could do that,” he said. “If they wanted to just simply have an event at the Odeum, they could do that, not even tied to a performance.”

You can donate to help finish the second floor project on Facebook here, or click here.

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University Surgical Associates has opened a state-of-the-art facility at 1407 South County Trail, offering surgical care a little closer to home for East Greenwich residents.

Surgeons practicing at this facility specialize in general surgery, endocrine, weight loss surgery and colorectal surgery. Additionally, the Center for Breast Care and the Vascular and Vein Center are now on site as well. Patients will also be able to meet with surgeons specialized in melanoma and oncology.

All 55 University Surgical Associates surgeons are on the teaching faculty of the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University. University Surgical Associates encompasses a variety of specialties that include, bariatric, breast, endocrine, colorectal, general, hepatobiliary, pediatric, surgical oncology, thoracic, transplant surgery and vascular surgery. For more information on University Surgical Associates visit: www.usasurg.org.

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