Biography
The Canterbury Commerce Club at 277 Kilmore Street was a multi-purpose hall used for folk music, community events, and live performances from the late 1960s until it was condemned following the 2010–11 Canterbury earthquake sequence. With a capacity of around 120, the modest hall served as one of the more important grassroots music venues in central Christchurch during its four decades of operation.
Its longest-running tenant was the Christchurch Folk Music Club, which used the Kilmore Street rooms as its primary Sunday-night home for a significant portion of its history. The Folk Club — originally founded in November 1968 as the Banks Peninsula Folk Club and later renamed the Christchurch Folk Club — had moved through a succession of central city venues over the decades, including the Arts Centre and Forrester’s Hall on Oxford Terrace, before settling at the Commerce Club. It remained there until around March 2009, when the club relocated to Bailies Bar. Following the earthquakes, it moved again, first to the Dux de Lux Lounge and eventually to Domain Terrace in Spreydon, where it continues to meet.
The Commerce Club building was damaged in the 2010 and 2011 earthquakes and subsequently condemned. It was demolished in 2014 and replaced by a mixed-use residential and commercial development.
Details
Also known as: –
Location: 277 Kilmore Street, Central Christchurch
Current Status: Demolished post-earthquake (2014); replaced by mixed-use residential/commercial building
Active as a live music venue: 1968–2011
Capacity: 120
Bar Manager: Vicki Dalton