The new owners of Exit/In will have more work than they bargained for, as they move towards reopening. The popular music venue. which closed for good in November under the ownership of Chris and Telisha Cobb, was purchased in July of 2021 for $6.45 million, officially gaining access to the property at the start of 2023.

Unfortunately, between the last week of concerts at the end of November, and the beginning of the new year, the entire venue was vandalized, along with Hurry Back next door, including broken glass, downed electrical wires, graffiti and more.

“Upon entry, we were shocked and disheartened to find both buildings vandalized with significant damage including broken and/or missing fixtures, broken glass, and destroyed utilities and infrastructure,” Tim Ryan of AJ Capital said, via The Tennessean.

In addition to the extensive indoor damage, Exit/In also had damage outside the venue as well, including the outdoor mural covered with streaks of red paint. The marquee outside Exit/In said “Sorry Not Sorry.”

While this is not the beginning AJ Capital hoped to have as they move closer towards reopening, including recently hiring a talent buyer, the company remains committed to moving forward with their plans for the property.

“Despite this awful and senseless act of vandalism and destruction, we remain committed to respectfully restoring the venue and faithfully stewarding it for the long haul,” Ryan said. “The Exit/In is Nashville’s Music Forum — her history, legacy and role in this community are nobody’s to own, hijack or destroy. And to that end, we look forward to making more lifelong memories with artists and fans in due time.”

For their part, the Cobbs insist they left the venue as clean as possible, and were unaware of the vandalism.

“We worked really hard to clean that place on New Year’s Eve,” Chris said. “No one employed by me has entered the building since our lease ended.”

The Cobbs launched a GoFundMe campaign in 2021, in a last-ditch effort to purchase Exit/In, after the building was sold.

“So we’ve asked AJ Capital to sell it to us, and basically flip it,” Chris previously told Rolling Stone. “And we want to be able to make the most compelling offer that we possibly can. We still have [Grubb Properties Group] backing, so we can pay [AJ Capital] as much as they paid for it without another penny, but we want to scrape together as many pennies as possible. And people just kept asking to help, so we wanted to be able to let people give if they want to.”

Unfortunately, that plan was unsuccessful, although AJ Capital vowed to keep Exit/In as a music venue.

“We are now able to speak to the community about our plan for preserving Nashville’s beloved Exit/In which was always our intent for the iconic music venue,” AJ Capital founder Ben Weprin said in a statement (via The Tennessean) in 2021, explaining why they were not willing to sell the property back to the Cobbs.

“Our goal and company mission statement is to conserve and preserve while maintaining the health and vibrancy of the communities we invest in,” he continued. “The Exit/In is no exception. In fact, the artist community was first to put the need for iconic venue preservation and assistance on our radar.”

Photos of the vandalism are available here. A projected reopening date has yet to be announced.