This Is Why Sable Audio Needs a New Home
We've talked a lot about Sable Audio's search for a new home.
We've written about Halifax's shortage of rehearsal space, the requirements that make finding the right building difficult, and our plans to eventually create multiple safe, reliable rehearsal rooms for local musicians.
This week, we got another reminder of exactly why that search matters.
We arrived at Canvas Land for rehearsal to find part of the building behind containment sheeting.
Posted prominently nearby was a warning:
“DANGER — ASBESTOS — CANCER AND LUNG DISEASE HAZARD — AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY.”
For the musicians who have spent years rehearsing in this building, that's a difficult sign to walk past on your way to practice.
Especially when it confirmed something we'd already been concerned about.
This Didn't Start This Week
Our concerns about Canvas Land aren't new.
Musicians in the building have dealt with leaks, water damage, excessive humidity, pests and ongoing maintenance problems.
We've invested an enormous amount of time and our own money into making Sable Audio's room something we're proud of.
But there's a limit to what we can fix.
We can clean our room.
We can maintain our equipment.
We can improve the space we're responsible for.
We can't repair the building around us.
And now we have confirmation of something we've been concerned about for some time:
The ceiling tiles contain asbestos.
That confirmation makes what has happened inside the building even more concerning.
Following water intrusion, damaged ceiling tiles were left exposed to repeated water damage for months in some areas of the building. In one rehearsal room, ceiling material eventually came down directly onto a band's equipment.
These weren't conditions hidden away in an unused corner of the property. Musicians were renting rooms, storing their equipment and continuing to use the building while damaged ceiling materials remained in place.
Now, containment has gone up and asbestos hazard signage is posted inside the building.
Knowing that the ceiling tiles contain asbestos changes the context of what musicians have been experiencing. What had already been frustrating concerns about leaks, water damage and deteriorating building materials now carry a much more serious weight.
For us, this is no longer simply about wanting a nicer building.
It's about needing a future for Sable Audio where musicians don't have to question whether the space they're paying to use is safe.
Musicians Are Still Paying to Be Here
That's one of the most frustrating parts.
The musicians using Canvas Land aren't being given these rooms for free.
People are paying rent.
They're bringing instruments, amplifiers, computers, recording equipment and thousands of dollars worth of gear into the building.
Some of the people who use these spaces also have existing health concerns, which makes uncertainty about environmental conditions even harder to dismiss.
A rehearsal room doesn't need to be glamorous, but paying musicians should be able to expect the building they are renting out of is dry, maintained and safe to occupy.
That shouldn't be a luxury feature.
It should be the starting point.
This Is Bigger Than Saving One Room
When we originally started talking about saving Sable Audio, it would have been easy to focus entirely on protecting the room we've already built.
Our thinking has always been about community.
We don't just want to save this room. We want to build something better.
That's why we're looking for a new commercial property.
It's why we've been talking to landlords, exploring financing and funding opportunities, building the Sable Audio business, growing the Artist Hub and planning for multiple rehearsal rooms rather than simply recreating what we have now somewhere else.
Every problem we've encountered at Canvas Land has taught us something about what the next Sable Audio facility needs.
Proper ventilation matters. Climate control matters. Building maintenance matters. Security matters. Sound isolation matters. Having a property owner who understands what we're building and is willing to work with us matters.
We're taking those lessons with us.
Crowdfunding Has Helped But We Still Need Help
When we launched our crowdfunding campaign, we hoped our community could help us take some of the first steps toward Sable Audio's future.
And the people who have donated have already made a difference.
Those contributions have helped us register Sable Audio as an official business, launch our website and Artist Hub, and continue development of the Sable Audio app.
We've also continued putting our own money into the business alongside those donations.
But the campaign hasn't gained the momentum we'd hoped for.
Building what we're working toward is expensive. Business registration, software, insurance, professional services, deposits, renovations, sound isolation, electrical work, HVAC and moving costs add up long before the first band ever plugs in an amplifier.
We aren't expecting crowdfunding to pay for an entire new facility.
But every dollar gives us more room to take the next step.
Halifax Musicians Deserve Better
This is much more than finding another room for Sable Audio.
We know there are musicians across Halifax searching for reliable rehearsal space.
We know existing facilities are often full.
We know what it's like to put time, money and equipment into a room and still have no control over whether the building around it will remain usable.
And now we know what it feels like to walk into rehearsal and see an asbestos hazard warning confirming concerns we've had about the building materials around us.
That's not the future we want for Sable Audio.
We want musicians walking into our future facility thinking about the song they're about to play, not the ceiling, the humidity, the water coming in or what might be behind the walls.
Halifax musicians deserve better rehearsal spaces.
We're trying to build them.
And right now, we could really use some help getting there.