Silver Dollar Room closing after almost 60 years

It's been a brutal start to the year for Toronto's live music scene, and now the Silver Dollar Room joins the ranks of venues slated to close. The news broke after Toronto band The Highest Order announced it was playing a goodbye show at the end of February in anticipation of the closure.

Reached by email, the club's booker Dan Burke confirmed that the Silver Dollar's days are numbered. "Right now, it looks like May 1 is our end date," he explained. "The building owner and City Hall have been working on a property re-development for some time - and it was approved about a year ago."

It's not surprising that the talk of the club's future has been mostly quiet. The venue received heritage designation back in January 2015, but that doesn't guarantee the permanent protection of the building so much as make it more difficult to ultimately tear down.

In any case, the club as we know it will be shutting down. We don't know yet about demolition plans. As to the future, there's been talk that a live venue might be a part of new plans for the site, but a shiny replacement could never replicate the nearly 60 year old club.

In the meantime, Burke is organizing numerous farewell shows. "I've been in touch with many of the best and brightest artists we've worked with in recent years, and a lot of them are on board for a final play at the club."

Other noteworthy venues to shut down in Toronto include Hugh's Room (though there's hope of a return), Soybomb HQ, the Hoxton, and (tonight) the Central. It's a scary time to be a live music fan in Toronto.