A music venue in an industrial area of ​​Burnside Gorge has canceled all shows following a visit from enforcement officers, but owners say they are optimistic Quadratic will resume operations Sound once the permitting and fire code issues are resolved – a sentiment shared by city staff.

Owned and operated by four musicians, Quadratic Sound provides recording and rehearsal space as well as a concert hall above the bottle recycling depot at 655 Queens Ave. since 2022.

Nichola Reddington, the city’s arts, culture and events manager, said staff is identifying appropriate permits as well as any fire code or building issues that need to be resolved before performances can resume on place.

“Everything is actually looking pretty positive in terms of the possibility of reopening,” she said. “I’m optimistic.”

On Tuesday, the company announced on social media that it was canceling and refunding tickets for all of its booked shows after a visit from city officials and the fire department, who told Quadratic Sound their events violated zoning rules.

Co-owner and COO Emily Mahbobi said the company’s CEO, Noel Anstey, was informed by bylaw officers that Quadratic Sound was operating its 75-person venue in the wrong type of zoning and was not could no longer continue to host events. “It certainly surprised us,” she said.

The few complaints about Quadratic Sound in the largely industrial neighborhood are usually noise-related and quickly resolved by police, Mahbobi said. “They usually just stick their heads upstairs and see what happens, and normally it’s not a problem for them,” she said. “They leave and we move on.”

Shane Battley, co-owner of Quadratic Sound, said the city “basically told us that the building we’re in is not zoned for the events we do.”

But Reddington told the Colonist of time As of Friday, zoning requirements no longer appear to be an issue – and that the city had clarified the situation with venue operators this week.

“This is very good news,” she said. “Rezoning requests can be costly and timely, but it appears that is not the problem. It’s more about the fire code and building permit – these can be resolved with much less time and effort.

Reddington said the city is committed to supporting its cultural community and called the closure of Quadratic Sound’s live music performances “concerning.”

“We really enjoy these spaces. We want them to continue,” she said. “We want these spaces to be open, but we also want them to make sure they are open and safe for the public.”

An interdepartmental meeting with the city’s planning, regulatory and fire departments to outline “step-by-step” requirements for reopening Quadratic Sound as a concert venue is expected to take place next week, he said. she declared.

City staff will work with Quadratic Sound to help bring the venue up to city standards, she said.

In the meantime, Mahbobi said the company was returning to its core service of providing rehearsal and recording spaces for musicians.

The recording studio, rehearsal and jam spaces are still operating as usual and the company is opening a waiting list for new applicants.

Mahbobi said Quadratic Sound’s live music operations began by accident, after cooped-up musicians flocked to the venue for jams following a prolonged period of COVID-19 restrictions in November 2021.

“At one moment we have 80 people in a room,” she said. “We don’t know what happened, but everyone was so desperate for human connection.”

Since then, Quadratic Sound has welcomed nearly 10,000 participants at 305 events.

Mahbobi said the business was a labor of love for his four co-owners, none of whom were paid for their work. “We don’t really advertise it, but once we reach a certain threshold, we just take our share and give the rest to the organizer,” she said. “We only need a limited amount to pay our operating costs…we try to favor the organizer as much as possible in these allocations.”

Mahbobi said none of the company’s 14 part-time employees had been laid off, but people had had their hours reduced following canceled events.

Some upcoming shows canceled at Quadratic have been booked at other venues, but not all events have found a new venue, she said.

“There aren’t a lot of venues in Victoria. It’s really hard. The ones that exist are usually full,” she said.

Quadratic Sound operates on a club membership system, where an annual fee of $5 grants access to all of its shows. Unlike most venues, it doesn’t sell alcohol at its events.

“Not a single penny of what we paid to artists or our staff came from alcohol sales. It was all through music,” Mahbobi said. “Making money was never our priority.”

Victoria County. Matt Dell said it has become increasingly difficult for arts spaces to pay rent in an expensive city, pushing venues into warehouses or other buildings that may not have the necessary permits to serve as a place.

Mahbobi remains optimistic that Quadratic Sound will continue its operations, saying it has been through difficult times before. During COVID restrictions, the company at one point pivoted to hosting STEM boot camps to keep kids afloat, she said.

“If people think a little tour of the rules is going to stop us, they better think twice, because we’ve been through this and we’ve come back and it’s not going to stop us,” he said. she declared.

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