The six bidders initially interested in operating the Boathouse restaurant and music venue in Kitchener’s Victoria Park have been narrowed to two – and they both have strong ties to the local music community.
The names of the two remaining bidders were made public Monday following a vote by Kitchener councillors.
Behind one of the bids is a team comprised of Glenn Smith, who owns Ethel’s Lounge in Waterloo and has run music venues in the area in the past, and musician Danny Michel.
They want to see the building turned into a ‘Jubilee Music Hall’ and have made that vision public with a Facebook page.
“The Audience will experience CD quality sound, all in a clean environment where any generation will feel comfortable,” reads a description on the page.
The other bid was launched by brothers Curt and Cory Crossman, who founded the KOI Music Festival, and Bill MacTavish, owner of the Imbibe restaurant in downtown Kitchener.
“(The partnership) allows us to focus more on what we excel in, which is music promotion, and allow Bill to focus on what he does with the food and dining,” Cory Crossman tells CTV News.
“We’re going to have a wide variety of music. We’re not going to focus strictly on blues or indie.”
A decision on which group will operate the venue is expected in early December.
