This week we announced exciting plans to turn a City-owned building on Queen West into a live music venue and rehearsal space for new and emerging artists.
City of Toronto staff are recommending the transformation of the City-owned two-storey building on Queen Street West into a new D.I.Y. live music venue focused on Black, Indigenous, and racialized artists, featuring space for rehearsals, performance, and talent development. The new hub will be operated by the non-profit organization It's OK*.
464-468 Queen St W is a former retail store, acquired by the City of Toronto along with the parking lot to the north, as part of a larger project to build new affordable housing, cultural space, and parkland.
The initiative is thanks to work that began in 2019 when Toronto's Music Advisory Committee endorsed our motion to find a City-owned space for DIY music, in order to support the creation of affordable and welcoming spaces for both artists and fans.
Queen West is at the heart of Toronto's live music scene, which is essential to our city's vibrancy, culture, and economy. But after 2 difficult years, live music venues and artists are still dealing with impacts of the pandemic. We must continue to do all we can to support them.
As the local Councillor, I'm thrilled to support this initiative along with Mayor Tory, Councillor Bradford, Chair of the Toronto Music Advisory Committee, and Councillor Ainslie, Chair of the General Government and Licensing Committee, to transform a City-owned building on Queen West to host It's OK* and create a welcoming space for diverse artists and musicians.
This proposal will be heard by the General Government and Licensing Committee on March 22. If the recommendations are then approved by City Council on April 6, It's OK* is expected to begin operating in 468 Queen St W in June of this year.
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