The sting of Toronto losing the storied Silver Dollar Room was tempered somewhat by the promise that the long-running indie music venue would get a second life inside the residential tower taking over the College and Spadina property.
As a 15-storey complex began to arise from the rubble of 484 Spadina Avenue in 2018, the installation of branded signage for the Dollar kept hopes high for its revival, as did the heritage protections the venue was granted by the City a few years earlier.
But, little did fans know that the promised Silver Dollar reboot that would eventually debut in the development in 2023 would end up for lease, missing a key connection to the original venue: the people that ran it.
A historic #Toronto music venue will be part of a new apartment building https://t.co/jH0U9lIfIv pic.twitter.com/g9wljEW46E
— blogTO (@blogTO) April 2, 2018
Developer Fitzrovia had specially designed the base of the new apartment building — dubbed “The Waverley” in honour of the hotel that also stood on the site for more than a century — to serve as a renewed Silver Dollar Room, complete with restored versions of the original bartop, original interior artwork, original terrazzo flooring and, of course, the illuminated sign that had long served the landmark.
The Behar Group
But, friction with those behind the concert hall meant that things unfortunately didn’t go to plan, despite the physical space being carefully rebuilt to spec. The matter has even since devolved into litigation.
“We bought the site fully-zoned, bought a fully enacted bylaw that we took over,” Adrian Rocca, CEO and Founder of Fitzrovia, explained to blogTO.
“The previous building owner had dealt with the operator, but we have not been able to engage with them in the right way. So we’re now looking for someone to bring that space back as an entertainment venue and/or a restaurant.”
In its efforts to fill the establishment, Fitzrovia has moved to licence it, recently submitting an application with the AGCO under the placeholder name “Waverley Bar.”
The Behar Group
“The obligation under the bylaw, which we fully support, is to bring it back as either an entertainment venue or a restaurant. Ideally, we bring it back as both, some sort of food concept with a music entertainment angle, so that’s really what we’re working on right now,” Rocca says of the process of finding a new tenant.
The team from the official Silver Dollar, though, have since moved to a new address in Parkdale, and have far less positive things to say about the transition of their former location.
The Behar Group
“The building on Spadina was designated as a heritage site, and the City of Toronto only accepted the new development under the condition that The Silver Dollar remains,” they told blogTO over email last week.
“However, the developers unlawfully took our trademark name and signage, attempting to operate the business without the legitimate owners and, as expected, they were not successful.”
Fitzrovia
Promotional materials from real estate firm The Behar Group openly tout the site’s history, listing the unit for lease as “the historic Silver Dollar Room, one of Toronto’s most iconic live music venues.” But, it seems that future tenant may not have rights to that name, even after all of the work to recreate the venue exactly as it was.
Though the initial vision for the Silver Dollar 2.0 has failed, Rocca says Fitzrovia is excited about the prospective occupants that have stepped forward, and is finally getting close to selecting the perfect partner to do justice to the historic spot after nearly two years of laying vacant.
