closure

       "Who�s Emma" and the "Anarchist Freespace" were two not-for-profit businesses-cum-community centres that shut down in Toronto�s anomalous Kensington Market. During their era of operation these places provided a variety of services. Among them: to make available non-mainstream intellectual material; to offer a place for independent and emerging artists/intellectuals to showcase or sell their work; to provide a venue for punk and indie rock shows; and last but not least to serve as a community bulletin board and educational workshop.
        With all these evident benefits why did these places close down? The reasons that circulated were repeated break-ins, rampant theft and general lack of support from the locals. My opinion is that more than these reasons and rumors, apathy is to blame. Not enough people kept themselves aware and pitched in when these establishments were on the ropes. With the exception of the directly concerned volunteers and perhaps a handful of others it seemed that interest groups and patrons (like myself) who reaped the benefits, did not pitch in our part to help. As citizens in a consumerist society we are far too used to being serviced and balk at the notion of responsibility. Obviously "Who's Emma" and "Freespace" needed more than just buying and selling items but direct action.
        All this I learned after the fact and regret not having done my share to turn the tide. Now it is a more complex struggle to keep myself informed, to find a place to take part in non-mainstream events, to keep in touch with good-hearted, socially conscientious individuals and to explore points of view that I am not be familiar with. These are the precise reasons that "Who's Emma" and "Anarchist Freespace" were there for in the first place; in fact if it weren�t for them I probably would not have heard of Dollfazed.
        If another non-profit centre opens in the future it may be our last chance to hold on to a good thing. In such a case the businesses could be run differently. One of the drawbacks to "Who's Emma" and "Freespace" was that both sat on the fence between being privately and publicly run. Perhaps the future centre ought to make a more definite decision about being private or public. If run privately then a more traditional approach to staffing, loss prevention and stock maintenance would be in order. On the other hand, if the space were to truly be 'community run' then the activities ought to be publicly posted such as profits or in case of theft the losses openly published to provoke community response and support. In my opinion, if the public was made more aware of the dilemmas facing "Who's Emma" and "Freespace" then closure might have been avoided.