The Space closes doors
Eric Mitts
Copy Editor
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The buy occurred on Monday, according Anne Hensley, co-founder and volunteer of The Space, and member of the Kalamazoo Arts Collective. Hensley said The Space had not received word from its landlord, Dick Roberts or Renal Care Group about the buy prior to Monday, when it was given immediate notice to quit and 30 days to vacate the premises.
"We'd heard rumors, but (had) no verification from our past landlord or current landlord," Hensley said.
Neither Roberts nor Renal Care Properties were available for comment on the buy at presstime.
The Space has been officially open for business since Sept. 15, 2001, but the seven-person arts collective which had leased the property had been working there since February 2001.
Hensley said that she and all the other employees at The Space felt devastated by the buy.
"A lot of people really put a lot of work into this, and with only 30 days to leave we don't really have any way to relocate to another place," she said. "It was a not-for-profit collective, so we don't really have the money to relocate either.
"We felt like maybe there was a more ethical way it could have been taken care, but we're just trying to clean everything up and get out of there. We're going to have one last weekend of fun."
The Space currently has concerts and other events booked through the end of April, and Hensley said they are not sure whether or not they will be allowed to hold any of these at The Space, or if they will be able to relocate any of these shows to other venues in Kalamazoo.
"We're trying to honor those (shows booked), whether it's relocating them or having them in The Space," she said. "We have 30 days, so it's possible that we might open for some other shows. At this point we're positive about Friday, Saturday and then Monday night's 'The Sister Adda Project.' But at this point it's really painful for our volunteers and our board to drag it out a long time."
Currently, this weekend will be the last weekend of performances to definitely occur at The Space.
On Friday, The Space will reopen at noon and will remain open until the conclusion of "The Bat Guano Revival" featuring improv musical acts Mondale, The Jay Gavin Quartet, Hassled By The Man and The Army that evening. The show will begin at 9 p.m. and admission is $5.
On Saturday, The Space will reopen at noon once again and will remain open until the conclusion of the Small Brown Bike, The Casket Lottery, Charlevoix and Sah show that evening. The show starts at 8 p.m. and admission is $6. For more information on this show, please see the article in today's A&E section.
The Space will also reopen on Monday only for the performance of "The Sister Adda Project" at 8 p.m.
Information about other upcoming shows has yet to be determined and will be announced at a later date once decisions have been made.
The Space has also put a lot into the venue, including new ventilation and air conditioning systems and toilets, which must now be removed within the next month.
"Everybody has full-time jobs besides that, so we're not sure how long it's going to take us to clean everything up and get out, so we're going to have as many shows as we can have there and then relocate everything that we can't have there."
Hensley said the Kalamazoo Arts Collective's plans are to rest now that The Space has closed. She said its members will keep their minds open for future projects.
"We're hoping that this inspires other people to start moving on things productively and we're not opposed to doing other things like this in the future, but we're just going to take it easy for a while and see what happens."
Over the course of its nearly one-and-a-half year history, The Space has hosted a wide variety of musical acts such as Poster Children, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, Mustard Plug, DeVotchKa, Isis and Mates of State, among many others. The venue also featured many local musicians, including such frequently appearing acts as glowfriends, Kiss Me Quick, M Sord, Berwer, Nobody's Favorite and the Kalamazoo Precinct of Women Wrestlers (KPOWW).
"The KPOWW shows were great," Hensley said. "There were people from 8 years old to 80 at the KPOWW shows."
The Space has also hosted numerous benefit performances for such charity organizations as Skating the Way and served fair-trade, organic coffee.
The venue prided itself on providing a variety of musical styles and genres not seen at other venues in Kalamazoo, as well as offering a forum for a variety of other media including art exhibitions, theatrical productions, improv comedy and poetry readings.
Hensley said what she will miss the most about not having The Space in Kalamazoo will be not having a place where people of different social and artistic circles can come together. However, she said she thinks that another all-ages music venue will eventually open in Kalamazoo, as The Space followed in the footsteps of a long line of other deceased all-ages music venues such as The Comet.
"I think there are a lot of really motivated people out there and if we can do it they can," Hensley said. "I think that before The Space opened there was nothing and there were just a bunch of satellite groups out there looking for something to do. Then when The Space opened, the scene kind of grew. So hopefully it won't fall apart. Hopefully people will use this as a start off place."
Hensley said everyone at The Space and the Kalamazoo Arts Collective would like to thank all of those who volunteered and helped out with the venue from the bottom of their hearts.
For more information about The Space, please attend either of its concerts this weekend or the play on Monday night.