It’s always bittersweet when a big-name musician announces a tour and the Toronto show is listed at Sound Academy.
Flash back to that time it took over an hour to track down a cab or bus at 1:30 am in the dead of winter after the Lauryn Hill concert.
Flash back to fighting your way through thousands of D’Angelo fans giving you withering cut-eye as you returned to your friends at the front of the stage after a 30-minute trip to the one washroom on the main floor.
Flash back to the hour-long wait to get out of the parking lot because you thought driving would be easier than getting a cab or transit. Flash back to leaving early to beat the parking lot rush.
Toronto nightlife mogul Charles Khabouth has had these issues on his mind since his company, Ink Entertainment, acquired a controlling stake in the Polson Street complex that houses Sound Academy three years ago.
After initial rumblings that the 45,000-square-foot space would close for renovations earlier this year, Khabouth confirmed last week that he’s shutting the venue down on January 3, 2016, so that a $10 million overhaul to gut the building, raise the roof and install a new sound system can begin.
The new club and concert hall will be the latest addition to Khabouth’s portfolio of high-end nightspots, restaurants and events that includes Tattoo, Patria, Uniun, Cube, La Societe and the Veld Music Festival.
He also operated the Guvernment and Kool Hous complex, which left Sound Academy the city’s sole 2,000- to 3,000-capacity concert venue when it shut down last year so the land owner could redevelop.
While the press release detailing the Sound Academy reno focused on bells and whistles such as VIP booths, “high-gloss contemporary surfaces,” a “discreet backstage club” and “unusual animalistic and vegetal patterns” courtesy of design firm Studio Munge, everything from the plumbing and electrical to the ventilation and walls will be redone.
“I see clearly what the problems are,” Khabouth said in an interview with NOW. “That’s what I’m attacking first. Whether the walls are green or blue, nobody really cares. The interior design and colours are important but don’t add to the experience that much. It’s about the flow and understanding what people need when they come into the space. I even have a hard time going up and down the street when we’re busy.”
In all, two-thirds of the building will be demolished, including the ceiling, two walls and the columns.
The new venue will re-launch in June 2016 and function primarily as a venue for concerts and corporate events but operate as a nightclub on Saturdays. Khabouth estimates club nights will comprise 25-30 per cent of the new venue’s business.
When it reopens, patrons can expect four washrooms on the main floor, premium-priced seating on the balcony and a sloping floor that will elevate concertgoers at the back six-to-eight inches higher than those close to the 65-foot stage. There will also be a heated tent outside during winter that holds 800 people.
Khabouth is in the process of purchasing “one of the top three touring sound systems” and will replace the lighting and add LED screens that can display the action onstage.
“When it’s renovated, it’s going to look a lot better, sound a lot better and smell better,” he says.
Although the venue is licensed for around 3,700 people, Khabouth says capacity for shows will be a more comfortable 3,000. “You can sell 3,700 tickets legally but that doesn’t mean you’ll see the show,” he says.
Part of the plan is to diversify bookings with seated shows that can hold 1,500 people.
“We want to be thought of as something a little more upscale,” he explains. “However, the space is very flexible in that we can do a rock show and you could have a more mature artist that would attract a mature audience that might want to sit down. We’re looking at all of that.”
He wants to end those long, frustrating bottlenecks in the parking lot, which currently has one entrance/exit and attendant. The plan is to refit the lot with two entrances and exits, with extra staff on busy nights to charge drivers waiting to get in.
Khabouth has been running a shuttle bus from Union Station for partiers headed to the nearby Cabana Pool Bar and wants to add two more shuttles that will operate “constantly” during events.
The only thing he hasn’t figured out yet is a new name.
“It’s not going to be Sound Academy. It’s not going to be the Guvernment. It’s not going to be the Docks,” he says. “I’ve never been one to recreate things. I think spaces happen at a certain time and they do what they’re supposed to and when they’re gone, they’re gone. You just got to let them go.”
kevinr@nowtoronto.com | @kevinritchie
