Downtown Charlottesville’s Gravity Lounge, one of the city’s few smaller music venues, is teetering on the edge of closure because of ongoing financial woes.
“We are in danger [of closing],” said Bill Baldwin, the music venue’s manager. Though the live nightspot has had money troubles in the past, Baldwin said, “now it’s just a little bit more dire.”
Gravity could close within the next few days, Baldwin said, but he added, “We think we have a longer window than that now.”
The lounge’s management is discussing whether to shutter the business, which opened in 2003. Baldwin said they need around $200,000 to pay off existing debt and relaunch the venue as a nonprofit, allowing them to receive grants and donations to “put us in a much better spot for sustainability.”
“That would be an ideal situation,” Baldwin said.
Gravity’s possible closure comes after other local music spots suffered a similar fate — the Corner’s Satellite Ballroom closed in May and Starr Hill Music Hall shut its doors in 2007, though the new Is venue opened in its place in October.
The renovated Jefferson Theater will offer a mid-sized space for live music, but the venue is not set to open until later this year, leaving many in the area pining for a place to showcase local artists and bands.
“I think right now the mid-sized places are the least, and Gravity is sort of in that niche,” said musician Stratton Salidis, who has played at Gravity Lounge.
Baldwin said Gravity’s financial issues have stemmed from a steady inability to bring in sufficient revenue.
“It’s not been any particular series of events or any one season that was disastrous,” he said. “It costs more to run a business like this than we have been able to generate.”
For the most part, ticket sales pay the artists who play at the location and the rest covers publicity costs, he said.
An additional $200,000 would help cover the rent for the location just off the Downtown Mall and pay off “a major investor” in the business. Baldwin said the money would not cover any investment he has put into the venue.
Jesse Fiske, a Charlottesville resident who is a member of the local Hackensaw Boys band that just played at Gravity Lounge in December, said he has been in and out of the spot on several occasions over the years.
Fiske said there are other places to have live shows, such as the Fry’s Spring Beach Club, which occasionally hosts bands. But he noted that the Fry’s Spring location is limited and not primarily designed for live performances.
If the city were to lose Gravity, “it would be one less venue in town,” he said. “It’s a bummer.”
The music spot is seeking donations through its Web site’s store, and contributions can be made in $25, $100, $250 and $1,000 amounts.
As for when a decision will be made on Gravity’s fate, Baldwin was uncertain.
“That’s the most nerve-wracking part,” he said.
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