(Brother Rutter announces his law firm’s new naming sponsorship with The Dome. Photo by Melissa Dawn.)
By Jeff Maisey
The Dome in Virginia Beach has a new name — The Dome by Rutter Mills — and an expanded mission.
The original Dome, officially named the Alan B. Shepard Convention Center, has been memorialized for the many legendary entertainers that graced its stage in the early eras of their careers. Bands like the Jimi Hendrix Experience, The Who, Black Sabbath, The Supremes, and The Rolling Stones.
Affectionately known by locals as The Dome, it was in operation between 1958 and 1993, and was demolished in 1994.
After the site was paved over as a parking lot for a quarter century, a plan was hatched to build an entertainment complex featuring a water park, restaurants, and a revisioned Dome (but not Dome shaped) concert hall.
Attorney Brother Rutter reminded a gathering of business people, city officials, and members of the media, the original Dome was also a community space for a variety of events ranging from hunting/decoy trade shows to serving as a roller rink. Expanding today’s Dome beyond concerts to include community events is key to Rutter’s commitment to the venue.
For over a decade, the Rutter Mills Foundation has become an avid financial supporter of local performing arts organizations and art museums, including Chrysler Museum of Art and Virginia MOCA.
“What we’ve noticed over all those different threads is that everybody is trying to reimagine how to be a space where communities can gather and have experiences together,” explained Brother Rutter. “A library doesn’t just want to be a depository of books. An art museum doesn’t just want to be a place where paintings are stuck on a wall. They want to be a community gathering space, an experiential place.
“Live music, small venues do it very well,” he continued. “That is one part of the cultural fabric in this area that we (Rutter Mills Foundation) haven’t been all-in with both feet. We want to think of ourselves more than just a law firm that has been doing business in Hampton Roads for over seven decades; we want to give back to the community that’s done so much for us over the years, and this just seemed like a great way to do it.”
Since reopening in 2025, the 5,000 capacity, state-of-the-art venue has hosted a diverse program of concert ranging from classic rockers Three Dog Night, Pat Benetar, and Chicago to The Clipse, Whiskey Myers, Ziggy Marley, and Alison Krauss & Union Station.
The 2026 season ahead is just taking shape with everyone from shock rocker Alice Cooper, David Byrne and David Lee Roth to Goose, Lake Street Dive and Ari Lennox scheduled.
Brother Rutter credits his son, Carter Rutter, a third generation personal injury attorney with the family firm, as a driving force behind the naming rights deal with Live Nation, the entertainment entity managing and promoting the venue.
A statement on the Rutter Mills website reads, “In his first year at the firm, Carter helped facilitate a new partnership that will provide Hampton Roads residents with a place to enjoy and express themselves. The Dome by Rutter Mills, a world-class entertainment venue, is a focus of Carter’s. Through this partnership he will facilitate community connections and initiatives that will benefit area residents by giving back to the people he and his family has served for almost seven decades.”
Additionally, Brother Rutter shared his Foundation’s vision and planned active engagement: “We want this place to be iconic not just for the shows you see, but for how it can help the community grow together and give people those in-person experiences I think we’ve been away from for too long.”