The Boathouse Stays
Posted Oct 4, 2011 02:16:49 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
A standing room only crowd of more than 220 Boathouse supporters filled Kitchener City Hall, many wearing white “Support the Boathouse” t-shirts. People standing in virtually every available space, including the corridor leading to the council chambers door way. People gathered to see council unanimously pass a recommendation supporting The Boathouse to remain a “cultural venue,” with a hand extended to operator Kevin Doyle to negotiate “mutually satisfactory” lease.
The City’s Chief Administrative Officer, Carla Ladd along with Executive Director of Economic Development, Rod Regier presented the staff report and Councillor Frank Etherington read the recommendations into motion, which also specify the venue be analyzed both structurally and operationally. Etherington made an addition to the recommendations, adding in “That the city involve the public, the Victoria Park Working Group and the Victoria Park Neighbourhood Association, in any renovation plan and future use of the Boathouse,” and secondly, “For the benefit of all local musicians, that while the existing Boathouse is closed, staff work with Mr. Doyle to open an alternate Boathouse at a downtown location while the work continues on the park and the Boathouse is closed.”
Kitchener Mayor Carl Zehr listed 17 delegations and laid out the ground-rules, asking those in attendance not to applaud, cheer or jeer. Also delegates were asked to indicate whether or not they support the recommendations.
The second delegation of the night came from Carrie Humphries, the host of Rogers TV show, “I On Music”, a show focused on the local independent music scene. Humphries detailed her rise through the local scene as a radio host and a concert promoter with her company, IRIS Entertainment. In spelling out her history, she underscored it with a believe that “none of this would have been achieved without Kevin Doyle and his Boathouse. It was Kevin who believed enough in what I was doing that he gave me the strength and the confidence to branch out on my own as a business owner.” Humphries, like every other delegate, supported the recommendations on the staff report.
The owner of Encore Records and operator of Busted Flat record label, Mark Logan told council that there are maybe 20 venues in the country that are run the way Doyle runs the Boathouse, “it’s not just about a room, it’s the way Kevin operates the space. His business model is simple, treat the musicians fairly, pay them, give them a room that allows them to do what they do in front of an audience that is there to listen to them,” Logan continues to say the reputation of the Boathouse is spread across the community and country, “I can’t overstate what it means for musicians to play in front of an audience that is there to listen to the music, as opposed to being stuck in a corner under a TV when the Leafs are playing,” Logan, listing off that the boathouse doesn’t have a television, disc jockey, karaoke or cover bands, purely original music, 6 nights a week.
Chair of the Victoria Park Neighbourhood Association, Anna Mast delivered her delegation with a set of quotes from neighbours she had polled. Several of those people spoke to the improved safety the Boathouse offers the park by increasing the traffic to the area. At the same time, Mast noted several concerns she has with the Boathouse, “particularity that the exterior should be better maintained, the docks and washrooms should be publicly accessible, and that the canteen should be open more often.”
In Mayor Zehrs remarks right before the recommendations were voted on, he called this a “call to action, it’s a call to action to everyone here, it’s a call to action to the music industry in this entire community, to be supportive of it, and not just attending once or twice and paying a $5 cover charge, but there are bound to be some additional costs related to this. I don’t know what they are, this is not intended to be fearful, but it is a call to action for this community to really get behind it.”
Councillor Kelly Galloway called for a recorded vote and every single councillor stood up in approval of the recommendation, passing it unanimously. The chambers erupted in thunderous applause and a standing ovation, lasting half a minute long, before Mayor Zehr remarked, “I knew you’d do that!”, to the amusement of the crowd.
After the motion passed, outside the council chambers, Doyle was seen grinning ear to ear with tears in his eyes, telling 570 News that he is moved beyond words at the public outpouring of support, “I can hardly even stand up right now, it’s very hard to hold my composure, it feels incredible,” he said “this is very great news, unanimous vote to continue in talks to me to be the first right of refusal, I’m ecstatic.”
And it would seem the community is also ecstatic as the light at the end of the Boathouse tunnel, has brightened.
