When Toronto musician Kinkade Davis decided to turn the old Grand Gerrard Theatre in Toronto’s east end into a vibrant new concert venue for artists like himself to enjoy, he knew it wasn’t going to be easy.
“We need a sound system, we need a lighting system, we need a bar, we need a green room, and we need to kind of fix the stage,” he said.
All of which would require him to use his life savings of $30,000 and the help of a GoFundMe page that raised an additional $35,000. It was a lot of work and money but he says it was 100 per cent doable.
“I can make this happen,” he told himself.
Now, months and thousands of dollars in debt later, his dreams of opening up ‘Mercy on Gerrard’ have been put on hold after claiming he was scammed into signing a short-term lease for a space that’s facing nearly $300,000 worth of repairs and multiple safety violations, putting him at odds with the landlord.
Davis said he first noticed something was wrong when he saw that the roof was leaking. Despite the landlord suspiciously refusing to allow him onto the roof to assess the situation, Davis said, he grabbed a ladder and did so anyway, that’s when he couldn’t believe his eyes.
“The roof is in complete disarray, he has cinder blocks holding things, there’s no HVAC units, there’s holes everywhere, It’s just patchwork,” he told Now Toronto on Friday.
Shocked and alarmed, Davis says he had no choice but to look into the building further, so he brought in inspectors who only shared terrible news.
“The electrical system isn’t what he originally said it was, the basement potentially has asbestos in it, the floors are all cracked, it just feels like the whole building is a complete biohazard,” he said.
Davis says the fire department also wrote a “list” of violations and says his landlord has taken no responsibility, and he feels like his dreams and excitement were taken advantage of.
“He 100 per cent sold me the dream,” Davis said.
Davis said before signing the lease his landlord seemed helpful, encouraging, and just as excited for him as he was, but says he has now deflected blame.
“He’s like ‘you don’t know anything about commercial leases’…. Is it not his responsibility to make sure that a building is safe?” Davis said.
Although a fundraiser helped get the project up-and-running, Davis says he doesn’t feel comfortable starting another one, nor is he certain he wants to continue moving forward in its current space
“I would only be benefiting him, it’s like a community project, but me going out of my way to ask people for donations to put into his building is crazy, I would never do that. He’s 100 per cent a scam,” he said.
Now Toronto reached out to the landlord for a response to the allegations and is still awaiting a response.
For now, Davis says he’s demanding greater protections for tenants in the city to prevent similar situations from happening to them.
He’s also calling on the city to launch an investigation into the property, and create a mandatory inspection and certification system for all commercial properties before lease agreements.
Davis says while his dream of giving smaller artists a space to enjoy music may be put on pause, it’s far from over.
“I will never give up on the dream, this is in dedication, and in honour of my aunt. There’s no way I’m backing down, this is happening one way or another,” he said.
