Forget about April—February is by far the cruellest month. Just ask the Khyber Club.
In February of 2006, the Khyber Club (the famous “red room” at 1588 Barrington) was unexpectedly shut down by the city. The Khyber Arts Society, which rents the building, had been operating the space as a licensed multi-purpose performance venue for local artists. As Khyber manager Krista Davis explains, the terms of the Khyber’s lease were changed, which led to the closure.
“We downsized,” she says. “We used to rent out the whole building. Right now, we only pay for a storage space, the office and the ballroom gallery.”
Which meant no red room—or so everyone thought. For the past 12 months, the Arts Society continued to rent out the red room for private functions and special events—it wasn’t available for long-term bookings, but the club was still available for one-off performances such as live music, theatre and art exhibitions.
But, as we said, February isn’t a good time to be the Khyber Club. On February 2, ’07, the city showed up to change the locks on the red room—literally.
“Someone from the city showed up during a GLBTQ youth meeting,” says Davis. “But, we were like, “No, you can’t boot these kids out of here! This is such a good event!
“From what I understand, someone with the city had heard about the regular CKDU event , and said, ‘You can’t run a bar out of there. Nobody said that you could rent the spaces. You’re not paying for those spaces.’”
Davis admits red room events were probably permitted over the past year because they flew “under the radar,” but “we also had a verbal agreement with the city to operate in that space,” she says.
Holly Richardson, the city’s regional co-ordinator for culture and heritage, says the city had always intended to change the locks on the Khyber Club, since it was shut down in ’06.
“I think there was some misunderstanding in terms of what the actual lease agreement entailed,” she says. “At the moment, that club space is not leased by anybody. The issue that HRM is trying to sort through is the liability and insurance. Right now, with no tenant in that space, any group that goes in there is liable.”
The Khyber Arts Society had already booked events in the red room through to mid-March. Both the city and the Arts Society are now working on a temporary rental contract that would allow the Khyber to honour those commitments.
In the long term, Richardson says that the city and the Arts Society want the same thing—to see the space used as a multi-purpose arts venue. One possibility would see a wider variety of tenants.
“At the moment, we’re working with the Khyber Arts Society and potentially some other arts organizations to develop a cultural cluster—a multi-tenant situation—out of that building,’ she says. “A space like the club could potentially become a multi-use venue for a number of organizations.”
Richardson says she would like to hold public meetings to discuss new proposals for the building and the city may do that in late February or early March to gather input.
Whatever the outcome, Davis wants to ensure the space will be reserved for artists.
“The city needs a community arts space. And it was a community arts space,” she says. “But, when it comes down to it, we’re not paying for it anymore. It’s too bad because it could be used for so much, and it’s not.”
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