Severalshops and eateries in downtown Halifax say they are struggling as construction of the new Nova Centre hampers the flow of people and business, and now one bar is turning to its patrons to help keep it afloat.

Just metres away from the Nova Centre construction site on Argyle Street sits The Carleton Music Bar and Grill – a live music venue many Canadian artists call home.

“It’s become sort of like a second home to me,” says musician Matt Mays, who makes the Carleton his hangout whenever he’s in Halifax. “What people don’t realize is that there’s not a Carleton in every town.”

Mike Campbell, who opened the Carleton in 2008, has started an online campaign in which people can become patrons by donating $5 or more a month. His goal is to reach $5,000 a month in donations.

“The patreon campaign that I'm running is just something that I hope will give us a little cushion in case something horrible happens that we can't figure, like maybe we do have to close because they're going to rip the street up," says Campbell.

He has also taken the cause to social media, where he has posted a video explaining the bar’s predicament and seeking support, with the help of popular Canadian artists like Joel Plaskett, Matt Minglewood and Jenn Grant, who are featured in the video.

“The live music business and the bar and restaurant business are difficult enough at the best of times, but since the construction has started on the Nova Centre across the street … it is kicking the snot out of our business,” says Campbell in the video, which has been viewed 10,000 times on Facebook.

“If we don’t make it, that will probably preclude artists coming to Halifax period, and that would mean that they would also stop coming to Atlantic Canada. So, not to put too fine a point on it, it’s very, very important, for all of those reasons that we survive.”

 

Help The Carleton! https://www.patreon.com/TheCarleton

Posted by The Carleton Music Bar & Grill on Wednesday, January 13, 2016

When the Nova Centre was announced, the initial completion date was set to be in a few weeks, but now it’s looking more like September.

Campbell hopes the Carleton is still open for business by the time the project is complete.

“If you’re taking a 25 or 30 per cent hit on your business year over year, that’s pretty much difficult to sustain so, if anybody is actually making any money that’s astonishing,” he says. “Most people are losing money.”

As of Thursday morning, 143 patrons had committed to a monthly donation to help keep the Carleton in business.

With files from CTV Atlantic's Kelly Linehan