The days are numbered for a large entertainment destination in Surrey, now that the city council has OK’d a 22-storey tower on the corner property.
Operators of the 500-seat Taphouse Guildford won’t renew their lease beyond Dec. 31, according to bar owner Wayne Ferguson, who said staff were told the news Monday, Oct. 23.
At 15330 102A Ave., Ferguson has helped operate a licensed establishment since The Mirage dance club opened there in 1997. By 2014 the two-level building was renovated and reincarnated as Taphouse, a 10,000-square-foot bar/restaurant that employs up to 75 people, depending on time of year.
Business at Taphouse hasn’t been bad, Ferguson said, it’s just time to close the doors in Guildford.
“This version of what we’re doing here, with the lease coming up, the term is up Dec. 31 so we had to make a decision if we wanted to renew it, or if Steelix wanted to renew it,” Ferguson said in a phone interview.
“We just decided that it’s just time to move on and put our efforts and money into something a little more long-term,” he added. “It’s really hard on a business when you know you’re there for just six months or a year, whatever. It’s hard. We did some soul-searching after talking to our accountants about that. It’s best we just move on.”
Surrey-based Steelix is the real estate development and management company that wants to build a 22-storey mixed-use highrise on the site with 296 housing units and groundfloor commercial space. The higher-density rezoning application was approved by Surrey council after a public hearing Sept. 25.
Shown on surrey.ca is an architectural drawing of the proposed tower, in a 64-page report to council, along with other project details. No construction timeline has been announced.
”I have no idea how fast they’ve doing to develop it,” said Ferguson, who also owns The Taphouse Coquitlam.
When the Guildford location reopened after COVID lockdown, he said “there was a bit of rush or pent-up demand when everything reopened, it was really good, and then, you know, it kind of settled down a bit since then. Business hasn’t been as good as it originally was.”
Ferguson grew up in a family of hoteliers, and as a kid was in sweating distance of some of the biggest names in show biz.
“My dad and grandfather both ran hotels, and I grew up in that business,” Ferguson said in 2015. “They’d take me to places in Vancouver, like Isy’s (supper club), and I’d get to sit in the front row to see performers like Little Richard, the Everly Brothers, James Brown — all the big names that came through town. I just remember all the sweat raining down on me by those guys, so I was that close. “That’s why I love live music, I really do.”
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The Mirage’s 18-year run as a dance club featured some live music including Lady Gaga’s concert there in August 2008, in support of her debut album, The Fame.
With Taphouse, the focus was on an older demographic with better food, big screens for sports but still a stage for bands and DJs.
“This was made for entertainment, with the tiered seating focused on the stage and the dance floor,” Ferguson said in 2015. “That’s a rare thing in this region, especially something this large.”
This fall and into winter, the bar’s farewell events include a “Thank You Surrey” gathering Nov. 29, Taphouse alumni party Dec. 1, Mirage reunion Dec. 15 and final New Year’s Eve celebration Dec. 31.
“We love our Tap G family and we’re gonna party harder than we ever have in these last two months,” management posted on Facebook.
For Ferguson and others, it’s the end of entertainment era in Surrey.
“All these years it’s been a great venue, a great place, and the people of Surrey have been so supportive for all the decades it’s been there,” Ferguson said. “So we want to make sure that we can make this end as well as it started. Hopefully we can do that.”
