A prominent non-profit arts venue in downtown Victoria has announced it will close its doors this month after 21 years of offering performance space to emerging artists.
The Victoria Event Centre said in a statement that it was informed by owners of the building last week that its lease of the Broad Street space would be terminated on Oct. 31 and new tenants would move in next month.
Kurt Archer, president of the Victoria Multicultural Society, which operates the 250-seat licensed venue, said the centre has faced a number of financial challenges since the COVID鈥�19 pandemic.
“We were seeing some positive signs of getting back on track, which the City of Victoria helped with, however, we were faced with a substantial rent increase and the owners felt they could no longer afford to partially subsidize the place,” he said in the statement.
In March, the centre received a $20,000 one-time boost in operational funding from the City of Victoria after the society made an urgent financial appeal to council.
In a statement announcing the closure, centre staff thanked attendees, artists, and sponsors who have used the space since 2003. “It has been an honour hosting such a range of events and communities in our space over the years.” The centre’s last day will be Oct. 27.
New operators are expected to take over the second-floor space at 1415 Broad St. starting Nov. 1, the statement said.
As of Thursday, the venue was still advertising events into December. Centre staff and board members did not immediately respond to requests for comment and the building owners could not be reached on Thursday.
Building owner Brotherhood Properties Ltd. sent the Times 91原创 a statement on Friday saying that it could no longer afford to continue subsidizing venue operations, as it had done for more than two decades.
The Victoria Multicultural Society board was informed of the decision early this year, the statement said.
The venue’s operators were unable to secure sufficient alternate income in the ensuing months and the company was forced to look for a tenant with “the ability to meet their ongoing financial obligations,” it said.
Over the years, the company had provided below-market rent, cash for tenant improvements and thousands of volunteer hours to the Victoria Event Centre, particularly in the early years of the venue’s existence, it said.
“The VEC has done incredible work providing a welcoming venue for communities from all walks of life, and became a second home for many folks throughout our city,” it said.
“As supporters, contributors, and friends of the VEC, its staff, and the communities that call it home we are sad to see the doors shut on this 20+ year chapter. However we remain hopeful that the organization can return in a new space to carry on its mandate into the future.”
Known as the Victoria Multicultural Event Centre when it opened, the venue dropped the word “multicultural” from its name within a year, although it would continue to retain a strong link to Latin music and performing groups.
The centre has been the longtime home of the Atomic Vaudeville theatre group and is a mainstay for the city’s drag and burlesque performance community.
During the pandemic, it ran a takeout coffee shop that eventually turned into a daytime café and creative space that offered free food and drinks for artists, people in low-income housing, and those belonging to a minority group.
The two-storey building with its well-worn, steep, creaky staircase was built around 1909, initially as a home for the Western Motor and Cycle Company. A bike shop occupies one of the ground-floor commercial units.
The building was designed by Victoria architect William Ridgeway Wilson, according to the Victoria Daily Times, a precursor to the Times 91原创.
Over the years, the building has been used as a hall and meeting space for various fraternal organizations, labour organizers and veterans’ associations, including the Ancient Order of Foresters, Knights of Pythias and National Unemployed Workers’ Association.
In 1931, the RCMP accused the building of playing host to a communist cell where people distributed Communist Party of Canada literature and attempted to recruit soldiers to the communist cause.
The Royal 91原创 Legion used the space as a boxing club in the 1960s.
A sale listing for the heritage building from Avison Young — online since at least May — said the 12,598-square-foot property, valued at $2.95 million, was owned by the Royal 91原创 Legion before it was bought by its current owner.
B.C. Assessment records show that Brotherhood Properties Ltd. purchased the building in 2001 for $888,000.
Since 2021, the building has undergone several significant improvements, including a new roof, elevator and heat pump.
— with a file from Carla Wilson
