Fans of live music in 海角社区官网have known this dark day was coming for some time, but now it appears to be official: the Silver Dollar Room will be closing its doors on May 1.
A proposal has been before the city for several years to turn the building on the northwestern corner of Spadina Ave. and College St., which also houses the 117-year-old Waverly Hotel and infamous subterranean venue the Comfort Zone, into highrise rental housing for students. Plans to level the Waverly and take with it were briefly disrupted in January of 2015, however, when the City of 海角社区官网designated the club as 鈥渂eing of cultural heritage value or interest.鈥
A new redevelopment proposal was approved about a year ago, however, so it鈥檚 been a poorly kept secret in local music-business circles that the days were numbered for the Silver Dollar, whose stage has been graced by stars from Bob Dylan on down (Blue Rodeo, Barenaked Ladies, etc.) since opening in 1958. It caps off a grim month for local fans of live music, who saw three other venues 鈥 Hugh鈥檚 Room, the Hoxton and Soybomb HQ 鈥 announce closures, though Hugh鈥檚 hopes to reopen.
Promoter Dan Burke, who books most of the shows in the 250-person-capacity room, has been told to book towards May 1. He鈥檚 not counting on having a job there when the redevelopment is complete, even if the club is somehow protected by its heritage designation.
Sad news if you’re a fan of the Silver Dollar Room. The musical institution is set to close in May. The venue has hosted musical royalty Bob Dylan and Levon Helm to name a few.
Carlos Osorio/海角社区官网Star鈥淭he thing is, due to infrastructure of the building 鈥 all the utilities are in the main building basement 鈥 the club will have to be shut down during construction,鈥 Burke said on Tuesday afternoon. 鈥淲hen it reopens, it will be part of highrise student residence. So will it be a student pub or a live venue? It remains to be seen. And that鈥檚 a few years from now.鈥
鈥淚f it鈥檚 part of a student residence, a student pub may make more sense business-wise. I don鈥檛 think heritage status can dictate what kind of business someone operates.鈥
Paul Wynn of the Wynn Group of Companies, the development company behind the proposal for the Waverly, is out of the country this week and was, thus, unavailable for comment so there was no immediate clarification of what will become of the Silver Dollar space.
Burke, for his part, plans to go down in a blaze of glory in much the same manner as he ran out the clock at the old El Mocambo, the Dollar鈥檚 currently shuttered Spadina Ave. neighbour, when it changed hands in 2001 and sent him looking for a booking gig one block to the north.
鈥淎 lot of great shows will be happening before then. I鈥檝e been in touch many of the best and brightest artists we鈥檝e worked in recent years, and a lot of them are on board for a final play at the club,鈥 he said, responding to a query about what makes the Silver Dollar unique among 海角社区官网music venues with a wry 鈥淢e. But seriously, it鈥檚 just a great, mid-size live venue, one of the best on the international touring circuit. And the interior design 鈥 those curves in the ceiling and the banquettes 鈥 are classic art-deco-era stuff.鈥
海角社区官网psych-rockers the Highest Order might have been responsible for breaking news of the Silver Dollar鈥檚 demise on Tuesday when they their intention to record a live album in the irreplaceable main room on Feb. 25 to properly say goodbye to a 鈥渓egendary venue that has definitely served us well (and under age) over the years.鈥
鈥淲e鈥檙e pretty choked about it because Dan Burke does a lot of shows there and it鈥檚 nice to work with independent promoters when you鈥檙e an independent band because the business is fair,鈥 said frontwoman Simone Schmidt. 鈥淪o I think we鈥檒l really miss the room. As an architectural structure it鈥檚 really beautiful, and it鈥檚 not clear yet whether what heritage aspects of it will be saved.
鈥淵ou feel like there鈥檚 some kind of structural integrity, but also there are also just a lot of memories and it feels like it鈥檚 a meeting place for a lot of different communities. And in that sense, it鈥檚 different than a lot of the newer places, which tend to try to appeal to a certain class of folks.
The Silver Dollar Room and the Hotel Waverly next door at Spadina and College, seen in 2013, are expected to be redeveloped for student housing.
PhotoDesk Email鈥淪o it鈥檚 nice to play in a place with history. I think everyone in our band grew up going to the Dollar in totally different capacities, which sort of illustrates how diverse of a crowd it attracts. I grew up getting fake-ID鈥檇 on Wednesday night to go watch (bluegrass regulars) Crazy Strings play, but (bandmate) Simone (T.B.) would have been playing there underage as a drummer in punk bands and Paul (Mortimer) would have been playing there, too, really early on.鈥
Dan Boeckner of Wolf Parade and Handsome Furs specifically chose to debut his current band, Operators, with a three-night stand at the Silver Dollar booked by Burke during Canadian Music Week in 2014, so he was understandably dismayed to learn that the club 鈥 which opened back in 1958 as a cocktail parlour adjacent to the Waverly鈥 is on its way out.
鈥淭his is really indicative of a bad trend,鈥 he said from Seattle, where he鈥檚 currently mixing the new Wolf Parade album. 鈥淪hutting down 250-capacity venues is going to destroy a huge touring network that鈥檚 vital to up-and-coming bands. Loft spaces and alternate semi-legal venues are equally important but places like the Silver Dollar provide employment for staff and musicians. Take them away and you鈥檙e wrecking an already endangered ecosystem. It completely ignores the fact that these places form the bedrock of working-class musician infrastructure. How are you supposed to grow a scene?鈥
Clarification 鈥 February 3, 2017: This article was edited from a previous version that stated that Toronto’s Silver Dollar Room will be closing its doors “for good” on May 1. In fact, according to stipulations set down by the Ontario Municipal Board, when the site is redeveloped the space must be rebuilt as the Silver Dollar Room with the original exterior sign and other heritage elements used. The site development agreement also stipulates that the room must include a set-up for live music. According to Ward 20 Councillor Joe Cressy, while the city cannot stipulate how the redeveloped space is used, the agreement stipulates it can only be used for commercial entertainment purposes.
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