Joanne Luscombe and Rich Laverdiere are taking it out of the computer and making it real.
Get ready for Your Space, Squamish’s newest social network. But unlike the popular online network MySpace, Your Space lives in real time in downtown Squamish.
“It’s just a real fun kind of project that anyone can access,” said owner Joanne Luscombe. “There’s lots of space – it’s very private, too.”
Your Space is a 1,200 square foot space at 38054 Second Avenue now available to the community on a rental basis, either in partnership with other groups or for solo enterprises and private functions.
And as soon as the paint dries, it will be open for business. A yoga class is already scheduled and Luscombe has begun advertising with small posters and word of mouth.
The partners are a few months away from having a full commercial kitchen, complete with marble flooring, but it is underway, as are plans to expand.
Built in the 1960s, the two-storey building, which was purchased by Luscombe and Laverdiere in 1999, had been the location for the Bowler Room, a locals’ watering hole and cabaret that catered to people leaving the bowling alley located across the street at the time.
Luscombe and Laverdiere made the second level their family home and opened the Rainforest restaurant on the ground level which they ran for five years.
In 2003, they began leasing out the downstairs space which, over the years, housed several local businesses including the Mini Flea Market now located on Cleveland Avenue.
After their most recent tenant, Beluga Daycare, closed its doors in October, Luscombe said they decided it was time for them to take over and bring back some much needed fun to the downtown core.
“Squamish is very fragmented with everything up in the Highlands or Quest – everybody is spaced right out,” she said. “There is nothing that the town can come to and participate in.”
Luscombe is brimming with ideas for what Your Space can be used for – bazaars, community theatre, catering, workshops, retreats, bingo, concerts and theme parties, to name just a few.
“You could do all kinds of fun, fun events,” she said, adding “I would like to work with the environmental groups and see if I can get it off the grid.”
The hardwood floors, reclaimed from old homes in the neighbourhood now torn down, are perfect for dance lessons or ballroom dancing.
And eventually Luscombe would like to see a community greenhouse as well as a rooftop tea house on the second story deck, which overlooks Shannon Falls, the Stawamus Chief, and Mamquam and Diamondhead mountains.
Two smaller rooms with pressed tile flooring are ideal for messy art classes and lessons, or as massage treatment rooms.
An upstairs living area is also available, so it can accommodate say “a chef who’s come in from out of the country to do a class for a weekend,” said Luscombe.
With bathroom facilities and a 1,600 square foot fenced patio, Your Space offers a large outdoor venue as well. Future plans include utilizing the second level to build a boardroom and more meeting and treatment rooms.
“This is such a cool building,” said Luscombe. “I love this place and everybody else should love it – everybody should be able to hang out here, it’s so fun.”
