The last few weeks have been alarming for clubgoers in Toronto as two of the club scene’s great icons have confirmed rumours of their impending closures. Fly Nightclub and the Guvernment/Koolhaus Entertainment Complex, two of the city’s most renowned entertainment attractions, are becoming construction sites for condos; and 99 Sudbury, the venue for Toronto’s Underground Market, may soon become condo space. This isn’t a new problem, however — Toronto’s club scene is facing a dead end as it continuously absorbs attacks from all sides.
Toronto’s zoning bylaws make it almost impossible to open clubs outside of the city’s Entertainment District. However, the Entertainment District itself went from almost 90 clubs in 2005 to roughly 30 in 2010. This is mainly due to the intervention of the King-Spadina Residents Association and of Adam Vaughan, the city councillor for Trinity-Spadina. Both have been openly opposing clubs in order to cut down on trouble and noise in the area.
In the mid-1990’s, the Entertainment District was made up of mainly nightclubs and home to only 600 residents. However, people began to move to the area in the past few years and sought to change the neighbourhood’s environment to suit a residential area. For those lamenting the loss of Toronto’s nightlife, the complaints raised by the residents of the Entertainment District seems nonsensical — who would move to the Entertainment District of the largest city in the country, seeking a quiet home?
Some entrepreneurs have tried to open bars and clubs in other neighbourhoods, though not without negative reactions from the city council. Ossington and Parkdale, for instance, have faced temporary bar bans in the past.
Another big threat to dance clubs has been the pressure applied by condominium development in Toronto. New condos springing up around dance clubs has prompted increasing rent prices, forcing clubs to close down. More and more clubs are closing, reducing the diversity of options that once made Toronto’s nightlife vibrant and transforming the city’s Entertainment District into a flavourless condo haven.
If Toronto continues along this path, the nightlife scene could dry up altogether. Rather than repress it, Toronto needs to embrace the club scene and allow it to thrive. In a big city full of young people like Toronto, a healthy nightlife is essential, allowing residents to socialize and enjoy themselves.
Adam Vaughan’s departure might be positive for the future of Toronto’s club scene, but it is too early to know exactly what will happen in the neighbourhood under new leadership. I hope that the next municipal elections will result in an end to the “war on fun.”
Alexandre Darveau-Morin is a third-year student at Woodsworth College studying anthropology, East Asian studies, and Spanish.
