Rickshaw Theatre owner David Duprey is on tenterhooks, and hell stay that way for the next month.
Almost two years after reviving the 700-seat former Shaw Theatre in the Downtown Eastside, the developer says the future of his business relies on Vancouver city council opting to break a nearly 20-year moratorium on issuing liquor licences in the neighbourhood.
Dupreys application for an event-driven liquor primary licence goes before council on June 16. If successful, the Rickshaw will be the first business to be granted a permanent liquor license in the DTES since 1990.
If it doesnt happen, Im out of business, said Duprey, who owns several art spaces in the Downtown Eastside and Main Street restaurants The Narrow and Rumpus Room.
Since it opened in the summer of 2009, the Rickshaw has been lauded by heavy metal and punk rock fans as a much-needed place for loud music in a city starved of venues. Duprey said city councillors, who have recently made a move to relax licensing rules to shake off Vancouvers no-fun city reputation, were supportive of his business but didnt want to issue a permanent liquor licence.
Since then, the Rickshaw has been surviving on borrowed time, operating under a string of temporary special event licences that attracted the scornful eye of the provincial government. One of my competitors turned me in because they said it was unfair competition, Duprey said, adding he had to temporarily stop serving alcohol last summer, which almost killed me.
The province granted him a reprieve, provided he was in the process of obtaining a permanent licence from the city. Now, with council actively looking at ways to increase and enhance performance spaces through its Cultural Services Regulatory Review for Live Performance Venues, Duprey is hoping his will be the first business in nearly two decades to break through what has been a barrier of red tape for new music venues in the Downtown Eastside. Its no joke that its incredibly hard to get a liquor licence in Vancouver, like impossible.
But not everyone is happy about the Rickshaws move to become a permanent fixture in the area. Wendy Pedersen of the Carnegie Community Action Project (CCAP) across the street said the Downtown Eastside is in a very fragile state with low-income residents feeling squeezed by developers and gentrification. The area already has enough drinking establishments, she added, with one licensed bar seat for every two DTES residents.
We want to make sure that the tenure and assets of the low-income community are secured first before we have any new gentrifying projects, including entertainment, she said. Because right now the people are being gentrified out of their own neighbourhood through displacement, through rent increases, and the feel of the neighbourhood is changing.
Pedersen said shes also heard area residents complain of noise, public urination and poor-bashing from non-area residents visiting bars and venues in the neighbourhood.
However filmmaker Melissa James said she thinks the Rickshaw is a necessary addition to Vancouvers cultural community. James chronicled Dupreys negotiations with the city to open the Rickshaw in her 2010 documentary No Fun City, about the lack of legitimate live music venues catering to Vancouvers alternative crowd who dont feel comfortable partying in the Granville Entertainment District.
Its really one-of-a-kind in Vancouver, it focuses primarily on loud music, which I think was much needed. Its got a really strong community, she said. James added she was hopeful the city would seriously consider the Rickshaws application, and that if its approved it would pave the way for other venues to open off-the-beaten-path.
We need one place to kind of break the ice, she said.
Will Johnston, the citys director of licensing and inspections, said the Rickshaw does not technically fall under the DTES moratorium on liquor licensing because it is operating as a theatre, not a bar. However he confirmed there have been no permanent liquor primary licences issued to businesses of any kind in the area since 1990. If successful, the Rickshaw will only be allowed to serve alcohol during live shows.
