When the music’s over
Urban life is suffering as music venues fall to real estate booms, writes Gregory Scruggs, of the Thomson Reuters Foundation, in Seattle.
FROM Duke Ellington to Lorde, Seattle’s The Showbox has hosted the full range of musical genres since it opened in 1939. Now, it may become the latest in a string of musical venues to fall victim to urban development as Canada’s Onni Group pushes for a 44storey building.
WHEN Pearl Jam led 50,000 people in a chant of ‘‘Save The Showbox’’ in a Seattle stadium last month, the rockers confronted a question facing many cities: When do the cultural costs of a property boom become too high?
The Showbox is an 1100person venue across the street from Pike Place Market, Seattle’s top tourist attraction. It opened in 1939 and has hosted acts from Duke Ellington to Prince, as well as hometown grunge pioneers Pearl Jam.
The venue now risks becoming the latest casualty of the Pacific Northwest city’s real estate rush, and many in the community are saying enough is enough.
‘‘Today one of our great cathedrals is at risk of being levelled,’’ said Ben Gibbard, lead singer of indie rock band Death Cab for Cutie, at a Seattle city council hearing in August.
‘‘It’s not just a music venue, but a cornerstone of our cultural heritage. We cannot allow this vital piece of our rapidly changing city to be snuffed out.’’
Historic venues are being crushed by real estate development in cities across Britain and the United States.
London has lost 35% of its independent music venues since 2007, according to the mayor’s office.
In 2014, The New York Observer documented eight significant music venues the city lost over the previous decade, beginning with punk icon venue CBGB and ending with the Roseland Ballroom.
Experts say the trend affects more than just music fans, bands, and others in the industry.
‘‘Music venues are an early canary in the coal mine,’’ said Shain Shapiro, head of Sound Diplomacy, a Britainbased consultancy firm on music in cities.
‘‘It’s not just about developing our music industry and providing a great night out. It improves the quality of life in increasingly denser and denser cities.’’
Music or housing
Interventions by city governments to save historic venues are rare but the past few years have seen a few, usually in response to public pressure.
Fans of The Showbox were outraged in July when Canadianbased developer Onni Group Canada, filed plans to build a 44storey building where the venue now sits.
A ‘‘Save The Showbox’’ online petition has garnered about 100,000 signatures. They include members of R.E.M., Jamie xx, The English Beat and other musicians who have performed there.
Last month, the municipal government approved an extension of the Pike Place Market Historic District’s boundaries to incorporate The Showbox. The extension will be valid for 10 months and means additional scrutiny will apply to any proposed real estate development on the site, even though it is zoned to accommodate a 44storey building.
In response, the owners of the building housing The Showbox filed a $US40 million ($NZ60 million) lawsuit against the city of Seattle earlier this month. It noted that halting the project would mean losing $US5 million in developer’s fees that would go towards funding affordable housing.
Showbox supporters argue the amount would be paltry and could come from elsewhere.
City council member Lorena Gonzalez said she intended to submit a plan this month to permanently protect the building housing The Showbox.
Onni Group, the developer, did not reply to a request for comment.
Legal protection
Authorities in Britain have acted to preserve some wellloved venues, as well as spurring the growth of new ones. There, developers must sign ‘‘Section 106 agreements’’ before gaining permission to proceed with projects.
Shapiro, of Sound Diplomacy, said local governments had leveraged the law to push developers into incorporating live music spaces into their plans. He pointed to Vicarage Field, a new shopping centre in the London district of Barking that will host a music venue.
In Cardiff, Shapiro said, a public outcry last year saved a haven for Welshlanguage music called Clwb Ifor Bach. Developers planned to build flats in the live music district but the City of Cardiff Council eventually bought the land parcel and leased it to the venue.
‘‘Clwb Ifor Bach is one of the best examples of a direct action that a council has taken,’’ Shapiro said.