Come February, scores of Boston musicians will suddenly no longer have a rehearsal space to call home. The Sound Museum, Bill “Des” Desmond’s long-standing practice and recording facility at 155 North Beacon St. in Brighton, posted a note to its 300 tenants over the weekend that states all bands and artists must vacate the building by January 31.
“As fellow musicians we’ve considered the Sound Museum and the Boston music scene our community and musical family for 40 years,” the note reads. “We’re so grateful for the decades of support and friendship you’ve all shown and continue to show our small family business. The developers who purchased 155 North Beacon have informed us they plan to make preparations to demolish the building. Our lease expired in July and we will not be given any further use of the building past January 31… We understand how disappointing losing your practice space can be, and hope to be able to provide for some of you again in the near future wherever we end up next.”
The developers in question, San Diego-based life science developer IQHQ, purchased the building for $50 million from The Hamilton Company in March 2021, according to WBUR. IQHQ plans to raze the current structure and replace it with a life science center that will sprawl across more than 400,000 square feet, the latest large-scale development in a small neighborhood on the Allston-Brighton line that has seen a flurry of them over the past decade.
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News of the Sound Museum’s immediate closing this week came as a surprise to many — both because of its short timeline, forcing artists to find a new practice space in the Greater Boston area with roughly a month-and-a-half notice, and also because IQHQ was vocal in finding a new permanent location for Sound Museum tenants to seamlessly relocate to once the Brighton facility would close.
In January 2022, IQHQ was adamant about helping the Sound Museum relocate to a new permanent space, one that Desmond required be within Boston city limits, roughly 40,000-square-feet in building footprint, about a 20-minute drive from its current location. The goal was to have the new space ready to open by the time the old Sound Museum met the wrecking ball.
“We understand the importance of the Sound Museum to Boston’s music scene, and have been working closely with ‘Des’ from the beginning to replicate what he created on North Beacon Street,” stated David Surette, senior vice president of IQHQ, at the time.
Those plans never materialized, and talk of a new permanent Sound Museum location has since shifted to a temporary bridge space to allow musicians to utilize a practice facility while the new structure is being secured. The #ARTSTAYSHERE Coalition posted an update on the development shortly after news of the Sound Museum’s closing had spread.
“For the better part of this year, the #ARTSTAYSHERE Coalition has been advocating on behalf of the musicians to keep rehearsal space in Allston/Brighton and prevent displacement,” they write on Facebook. “Recently, at their BPDA (Boston Planning & Development Agency) public meeting, IQHQ, the new owner/developer, offered to provide a new musical rehearsal building, in Brighton. It would be gifted to the City of Boston — with the plan that, if approved by the BPDA, the Mayor’s Office of Arts & Culture would manage a public process to identify a future operator. The #ARTSTAYSHERE Coalition did advocate for a seamless transition — for the musicians to have a place to rehearse while the new building is being outfitted, but were not able to secure such. We are still attempting to find potential swing space nearby.”
The #ARTSTAYSHERE Coalition reveals it has also been working with the city’s Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture, “who has continually advocated for the musicians and against displacement.”
On Monday (December 19), the Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture released its own statement, which reads in part: “The Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture has consistently advocated for no net loss of creative sector workspace and cultural facilities in Allston-Brighton, and for the coordination of development projects to ensure that the overall amount and affordability of cultural space is sustained. …Mayor’s Office of Arts & Culture (MOAC) requested that the development team (IQHQ) and the owners of the Sound Museum business fully explore options which would not displace musicians, including on-site reprovision of space or an alternative space in the neighborhood.”
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It continues: “IQHQ has purchased a building in the immediate vicinity of 155 N Beacon St. and is proposing to gift it to the City as part of its development project to be preserved for music rehearsal uses. This proposal is currently being reviewed by the City and the Boston Planning and Development Agency (BPDA) with a priority for quality space, long-term affordability, and soonest availability. Arriving at this proposal is a credit to all who have advocated to preserve space for musicians in Boston and in Allston-Brighton specifically.”
Regardless of the outcome of both the hoped-for temporary nearby space or a new permanent Sound Museum location somewhere around the city, the closing of the Brighton facility is the latest in a blow to working musicians in Boston. The community has experienced several independent venue closings over the past few years, as well as cost of living increases that put a specific squeeze on creatives and creative spaces, fueling a sentiment that Boston as a city claims to love the arts, but not the artists who create it nor the spaces needed to foster it.
“Naturally I am heartbroken to see the Sound Museum be not only shut down, but be demolished so abruptly with no clear options for hundreds of musicians who need secure professional spaces,” tweets musician and community organizer Nick Grieco. “Our community has to rally behind motions to create future permanent infrastructure for us.”
More to come…