Until recently it was Kirk Avenue Music Hall, which attracted a range of performers and bands to a space that barely held a 100 people or more. But, owner Ed Walker said Kirk Avenue as a music venue was always meant to be transitional and a space used in part to generate interest in creating music venues elsewhere – like the new Harvester Performance Center in Rocky Mount, which is programmed by Gary Jackson. He used to do the same at Kirk Avenue. (The Bridges mixed used development on Walnut Avenue, now under construction, may also provide another space for music soon.)
Ariel Lev, the new director of the Grandin CoLab – home currently to about 60 members using that space to grow their small businesses – will now oversee the new CoLab on Kirk. Unlike the Grandin Road facility there are not offices or cubbyholes on Kirk; it’s set up as an open lounge that is available only to those that are members of the Grandin CoLab. “Its very casual – no private office space,” notes Lev, who joined CoLab as a full time director recently when the need to have someone in that position became evident.
With many of those members expected to be downtown on a regular basis Lev said the Kirk CoLab should be an ideal spot for them to meet with other members or perhaps clients. The new space will be open from 8am to 6pm; members will use a key code to gain access. “It adds another layer of convenience for [members] that are downtown and want to meet quickly. Ultimately it can create more connections and business growth [by] having that convenient branch.”
Membership is $100 a month (on a month by month basis) per person at the CoLab, which is now scheduling weekly (X)Po talks at the Grandin CoLab, in an effort to keep the annual City Works (X)Po concept alive on a regular basis. Entrepreneurs and others with big ideas will offer the weekly talks.
Kirk Avenue Music Hall was a “temporary project,” as is the new CoLab on Kirk said Lev, designed to last about a year. It’s a test balloon to see if another full-blown business incubator with office space might be feasible. “We don’t know what the plan is yet but we’re open to molding to the demands of the community,” said Lev – sounding a bit like her boss, Ed Walker.
By Gene Marrano
