Hi, my name is Corey, I'm the owner of PILLLAR Forum. Today I found out that the city is shutting down our music venue because it is considered "unsafe" and does not meet fire code.

PILLLAR Forum is an all-ages music venue, the only of its kind, in Minneapolis, MN and we've become an important place within Minneapolis' music scene.

Over the past year and a half, we've been working with the city to get our space up to code. We've done everything they've asked; place fire extinguishers where needed, exit signs, cap old wiring, etc. but the one sticking point has been the ceiling and the fire rating between our space and the units above.

In good faith, we've continued to make progress on this, working with our architect, the building owner, and the city. However, to fully bring the ceiling to code, it would require a full rebuild of the ceiling, for which we do not have the funds to do.

Not only that, but there are plumbing and water leakage issues from the units above which we have been working with the building owners to have fixed. Those fixes are a prerequisite to any new construction starting in our space to bring the ceiling to code. The city was aware of all of this before they made the decision to close the venue.

The building we're in at 2300 Central Ave has been around for over 100 years and this type of construction will be very expensive and intrusive to operations.

We will continue to work to get all of these improvements completed and hopefully open as soon as we can, but with the venue closed it will be a significant loss of revenue for PILLLAR, our staff, and the bands that perform here.

My hope is that we can raise enough funds to; refund tickets for shows that will be cancelled, pay the staff for lost wages from shifts we have to cancel, and keep the lights on while we work through this and get Minneapolis' ONLY all-ages music venue back open.

Thank you for the years of support and hopefully for many more.

-Corey