Last night Derreck Roemer and Neil Graham's documentary, Last Call at the Gladstone Hotel, was on TVO. Has anyone else seen it? SPOILERS ALERT. I found it pretty gripping and pretty upsetting. Christina Zeidler, local artist and the hotel's manager (and a woman I've known since she was a kick-ass young sprite doing Petzine and the brilliant "Domestication is Resignation" animal stickers with her pals), gave amazing interviews, very honest and sometimes hard to watch.
Anyone who's been around the Queen West scene for awhile is probably going to feel implicated. The crux of the story is the transition of a flop-house and neighbourhood watering hole staffed by working class women, into a hopping boutique hotel and city-wide art venue. The development started when the place was sold to a partnership, the Tippins and the Zeidlers. The Tippins seemed to be pretty uninterested in the welfare of the residents, focussed on preserving the building as a piece of heritage architecture. The Zeidlers, who eventually took over full ownership, had a much more ambitious plan, which was to keep the residents and bring in artists and art audiences, slowly renovating and maintaining a space where these two classes could co-exist.
But it turned out that the building was in such bad repair that slow renovation was not an option. Also, members of the staff were not really comfortable with the increasing art crowd.
Eventually, Christina Zeidler had to implement the very hard decision to relocate the residents. The Zeidlers worked to make the transition as easy as possible, helping financially, and helping secure new places to live. Meanwhile the bars and stages downstairs were filling up with young and beautiful art people. (Not being particularly young nor beautiful, I am nonetheless part of that crowd.)
Roemer and Graham give us intimate profiles of one of the residents, and one of the staff members. The resident is Marianne, a frail but charismatic hoarder who is eventually forced to leave (I don't know by whom) because roaches are running through all her stuff. In a series of heart-breaking scenes she packs her overwhelming things into garbage bags and piles as much as she can into a taxi while the filmakers try to help.
The staff member is Marilyn, a chamber maid who's been there for many many years and cares a lot about the residents, to the extent that she buys sheets and curtains and art for the rooms at yard sales, out of her own pocket. Throughout the film we see her losing faith in the place, which is physically falling apart. Eventually, crying, she tells the camera that she's planning to retire.
I admire Christina for her ideals, and for the courage she showed in facing her role when she had to let some of those ideals go. But the whole thing is super sad. Christina spoke passionately about how the former residents are "remembered" at the Gladstone. It's hard not to see their shadowy former presence as a kind of value-added feature for the artists who have taken over, much like the shadowy former presence of artists is a selling point for condos sold as genuine "artists lofts." (And much like the residents' actual presence in bar was a draw in the early days. You know the way that artists tends to gravitate towards a really great "seedy" bar full of "neighbourhood characters".)
I don't know who rents rooms at the Gladstone now. Do poor people still stay there? Are there any long-term residents? The rates before the transition were cheap for hotels, but high compared to rent (Marianne was paying $1500 a month for a single room!). Would it be financially possible to keep the rooms open to poor folk and the bars open to artists? I'm very curious.
Even if it was possible to balance the books, however, I supsect that the ongoing grinding demands of working with poverty on a daily basis are not terribly compatible with the work of running a successful culture destination. I wouldn't be able to do it. The Zeidlers are ethical and committed and honest about the issues they face. They also partake in an activist role in urban development issues beyond their own buildings. I really admire them for all of that. And it's partly because of their honesty that Roemer and Graham are able to show us the heart-breaking damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don't aspects of the Gladstone story. That's better than burying it!
Note: I knew that Leah Sandals, an art n' politics writer whom I admire, had some good strong opinions on this doc, and so I intentionally wrote this before I read her review. It's here.
There is another review of the film here by S. James Wegg.
Both of the above reviewers cut the Zeidlers less slack than I do. I can't extricate myself enough to condem the power politics of the situation with such clarity. But I very much appreciate both writers' points of view.
I watched this Doc last night as well. I came away feeling a bit depressed and discouraged. I have fond memories of the Gladstone, many blurry nights in the bar singing Karaoke, back when it was frequented by TTC drivers. I suppose i never thought to much about the residents upstairs, although many of them seemed to find comfort in hanging out at the downstairs bar. The Gladstonians never seemed out of place among the assortment of artist types, gay people, media people and working people. I always enjoyed the diversity of class and people in the bar and everyone seemed to accept each other. there still is a diversity of people that frequent the gladstone but it is becoming more and more exclusive and the territory of the 'suburban' party crowd. Overall i would say the class of people who are frequenting the neighbourhood these days has jumped up a few notches. ( I have been a resident of the hood for about 10 years) Typical gentrification, however i think the proliferation of bars in the block between the Gladstone and Drake hotels is not typical and is detrimental to the idea of a neighbourhood with services for those who live there. This is the real loss, the loss of a real neighbourhood, warts and all, to a marketed neighbourhood where you would never see someone as 'ugly' as Marianne. I do give credit to the Ziedlers, they have handled a complex situation with as much caring as they can afford to. The Gladstone is still a hub of cultural activities and adds a vibrancy to the hood, but it won't be long before the culture makers will be the tourists rather than neighbours.
I also think it's true that the Zeidler's did the best with an awful situation. In the film they said it well. Something about 40 yrs of neglect catching up with them. I thought Christina was amazing. Her position was really tough. I was reminded of a tenant at St helen's when I looked after that building who collected newspapers, and only heated tinned soup on ahot plate. It was an absolute mouse heaven and fire marshall's hell. He had no phone, worked night shifts and was really hard to reach. I had a deal with his sister that she could call me to ask about him or get buzzed in to the building when visiting. He was the first tenant in the place and likely would have stayed there til he died.In the end the decision was made for all of us there, we had to go. This man really did his best to move as much stuff as he could, but couldn't do it all. My heart really went out to him. He was much younger than Maryanne, but I can see her in his futire somehow. mnobody is right about the detrimental effect of the bars alomg that strip. Maybe it wouldv'e been good to put a food shop in the galdstone. One thing I like is that the melody bar still exixts, but the clientele is slowly shifting. Is there a way to maintain that sort of diversity at all I wonder? A new development in Vancouver will try. The revamp of the woodward's downtown, that will have social housing and high priced condos, but my bet is they'll have separate elevators. sigh
Thanks for posting, you two. It's a phenomenon that's hard to parse emotionally. I didn't give enough props to the filmmakers, Derreck Roemer and Neil Graham. They were compassionate and circumspect, they were somehow there at the piviotal moments, and they did great interviews.
If anyone's looking for reading on the subject, this is the premise of Richard Lloyd's book Neo-Bohemia. He uses Wicker Park in Chicago as his primary case study. I won't comment more on the Queen West developments 'cause it'll ruin the ending.
Anyone who wonders about the social impact of an over-concentration of watering holes simply has to look at the problems in Toronto's "entertainment district" or "clubland". there's an article in this week's eyeweekly on the subject:
http://www.eyeweekly.com/eye/issue/issue_05.10.07/city/cityhall.php
and a glib prediction of west queen west's future in the same issues' bar and patio guide:
"Fretting about the cultural transformation of this once seedy strip is soooo 2004. When run-down Chinese takeout joints like Saigon Flower can afford chic makeovers, and the Saturday-night lineup at the Lisgar Pizza Pizza runs out the door, it's time to stop lamenting and simply accept the area's future as Clubland West."
From the same bar and patio guide: 'The Beaconsfield (1154 Queen W) and Lot 16 (1136 Queen W.) are pubs that can reach the crowd and noise levels of nightclubs, thanks to the hotel spillover effect and regular indie DJ nights.'
We want to reach the noise and crowd levels?!
arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrg! time to run for the hills rev.!
Here's a link to the queen/beaconsfield residents association, a local group trying to limit the bars in the hood.
http://www.queenbeaconsfield.com/
Spam magnet, sorry, must close comment thread.
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Last night Derreck Roemer and Neil Graham's documentary, Last Call at the Gladstone Hotel, was on TVO. Has anyone else seen it? SPOILERS ALERT. I found it pretty gripping and pretty upsetting. Christina Zeidler, local artist and the hotel's manager (and a woman I've known since she was a kick-ass young sprite doing Petzine and the brilliant "Domestication is Resignation" animal stickers with her pals), gave amazing interviews, very honest and sometimes hard to watch.
Anyone who's been around the Queen West scene for awhile is probably going to feel implicated. The crux of the story is the transition of a flop-house and neighbourhood watering hole staffed by working class women, into a hopping boutique hotel and city-wide art venue. The development started when the place was sold to a partnership, the Tippins and the Zeidlers. The Tippins seemed to be pretty uninterested in the welfare of the residents, focussed on preserving the building as a piece of heritage architecture. The Zeidlers, who eventually took over full ownership, had a much more ambitious plan, which was to keep the residents and bring in artists and art audiences, slowly renovating and maintaining a space where these two classes could co-exist.
But it turned out that the building was in such bad repair that slow renovation was not an option. Also, members of the staff were not really comfortable with the increasing art crowd.
Eventually, Christina Zeidler had to implement the very hard decision to relocate the residents. The Zeidlers worked to make the transition as easy as possible, helping financially, and helping secure new places to live. Meanwhile the bars and stages downstairs were filling up with young and beautiful art people. (Not being particularly young nor beautiful, I am nonetheless part of that crowd.)
Roemer and Graham give us intimate profiles of one of the residents, and one of the staff members. The resident is Marianne, a frail but charismatic hoarder who is eventually forced to leave (I don't know by whom) because roaches are running through all her stuff. In a series of heart-breaking scenes she packs her overwhelming things into garbage bags and piles as much as she can into a taxi while the filmakers try to help.
The staff member is Marilyn, a chamber maid who's been there for many many years and cares a lot about the residents, to the extent that she buys sheets and curtains and art for the rooms at yard sales, out of her own pocket. Throughout the film we see her losing faith in the place, which is physically falling apart. Eventually, crying, she tells the camera that she's planning to retire.
I admire Christina for her ideals, and for the courage she showed in facing her role when she had to let some of those ideals go. But the whole thing is super sad. Christina spoke passionately about how the former residents are "remembered" at the Gladstone. It's hard not to see their shadowy former presence as a kind of value-added feature for the artists who have taken over, much like the shadowy former presence of artists is a selling point for condos sold as genuine "artists lofts." (And much like the residents' actual presence in bar was a draw in the early days. You know the way that artists tends to gravitate towards a really great "seedy" bar full of "neighbourhood characters".)
I don't know who rents rooms at the Gladstone now. Do poor people still stay there? Are there any long-term residents? The rates before the transition were cheap for hotels, but high compared to rent (Marianne was paying $1500 a month for a single room!). Would it be financially possible to keep the rooms open to poor folk and the bars open to artists? I'm very curious.
Even if it was possible to balance the books, however, I supsect that the ongoing grinding demands of working with poverty on a daily basis are not terribly compatible with the work of running a successful culture destination. I wouldn't be able to do it. The Zeidlers are ethical and committed and honest about the issues they face. They also partake in an activist role in urban development issues beyond their own buildings. I really admire them for all of that. And it's partly because of their honesty that Roemer and Graham are able to show us the heart-breaking damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don't aspects of the Gladstone story. That's better than burying it!
Note: I knew that Leah Sandals, an art n' politics writer whom I admire, had some good strong opinions on this doc, and so I intentionally wrote this before I read her review. It's here.
There is another review of the film here by S. James Wegg.
Both of the above reviewers cut the Zeidlers less slack than I do. I can't extricate myself enough to condem the power politics of the situation with such clarity. But I very much appreciate both writers' points of view.
- sally mckay 5-11-2007 12:16 am
I watched this Doc last night as well. I came away feeling a bit depressed and discouraged. I have fond memories of the Gladstone, many blurry nights in the bar singing Karaoke, back when it was frequented by TTC drivers. I suppose i never thought to much about the residents upstairs, although many of them seemed to find comfort in hanging out at the downstairs bar. The Gladstonians never seemed out of place among the assortment of artist types, gay people, media people and working people. I always enjoyed the diversity of class and people in the bar and everyone seemed to accept each other. there still is a diversity of people that frequent the gladstone but it is becoming more and more exclusive and the territory of the 'suburban' party crowd. Overall i would say the class of people who are frequenting the neighbourhood these days has jumped up a few notches. ( I have been a resident of the hood for about 10 years) Typical gentrification, however i think the proliferation of bars in the block between the Gladstone and Drake hotels is not typical and is detrimental to the idea of a neighbourhood with services for those who live there. This is the real loss, the loss of a real neighbourhood, warts and all, to a marketed neighbourhood where you would never see someone as 'ugly' as Marianne. I do give credit to the Ziedlers, they have handled a complex situation with as much caring as they can afford to. The Gladstone is still a hub of cultural activities and adds a vibrancy to the hood, but it won't be long before the culture makers will be the tourists rather than neighbours.
- mnobody (guest) 5-11-2007 3:22 am
I also think it's true that the Zeidler's did the best with an awful situation. In the film they said it well. Something about 40 yrs of neglect catching up with them. I thought Christina was amazing. Her position was really tough. I was reminded of a tenant at St helen's when I looked after that building who collected newspapers, and only heated tinned soup on ahot plate. It was an absolute mouse heaven and fire marshall's hell. He had no phone, worked night shifts and was really hard to reach. I had a deal with his sister that she could call me to ask about him or get buzzed in to the building when visiting. He was the first tenant in the place and likely would have stayed there til he died.In the end the decision was made for all of us there, we had to go. This man really did his best to move as much stuff as he could, but couldn't do it all. My heart really went out to him. He was much younger than Maryanne, but I can see her in his futire somehow. mnobody is right about the detrimental effect of the bars alomg that strip. Maybe it wouldv'e been good to put a food shop in the galdstone. One thing I like is that the melody bar still exixts, but the clientele is slowly shifting. Is there a way to maintain that sort of diversity at all I wonder? A new development in Vancouver will try. The revamp of the woodward's downtown, that will have social housing and high priced condos, but my bet is they'll have separate elevators. sigh
- SR 5-11-2007 5:42 am
Thanks for posting, you two. It's a phenomenon that's hard to parse emotionally. I didn't give enough props to the filmmakers, Derreck Roemer and Neil Graham. They were compassionate and circumspect, they were somehow there at the piviotal moments, and they did great interviews.
- sally mckay 5-11-2007 6:58 am
If anyone's looking for reading on the subject, this is the premise of Richard Lloyd's book Neo-Bohemia. He uses Wicker Park in Chicago as his primary case study. I won't comment more on the Queen West developments 'cause it'll ruin the ending.
- Jam (guest) 5-11-2007 7:03 am
Anyone who wonders about the social impact of an over-concentration of watering holes simply has to look at the problems in Toronto's "entertainment district" or "clubland". there's an article in this week's eyeweekly on the subject:
http://www.eyeweekly.com/eye/issue/issue_05.10.07/city/cityhall.php
and a glib prediction of west queen west's future in the same issues' bar and patio guide:
"Fretting about the cultural transformation of this once seedy strip is soooo 2004. When run-down Chinese takeout joints like Saigon Flower can afford chic makeovers, and the Saturday-night lineup at the Lisgar Pizza Pizza runs out the door, it's time to stop lamenting and simply accept the area's future as Clubland West."
- rev. earl chunx (guest) 5-12-2007 1:52 am
From the same bar and patio guide: 'The Beaconsfield (1154 Queen W) and Lot 16 (1136 Queen W.) are pubs that can reach the crowd and noise levels of nightclubs, thanks to the hotel spillover effect and regular indie DJ nights.'
We want to reach the noise and crowd levels?!
arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrg! time to run for the hills rev.!
Here's a link to the queen/beaconsfield residents association, a local group trying to limit the bars in the hood.
http://www.queenbeaconsfield.com/
- mnobody (guest) 5-12-2007 3:21 am
Spam magnet, sorry, must close comment thread.
- L.M. 5-23-2007 11:39 pm