A popular Inglewood all-ages live music venue has been forced to shut its doors and cancel upwards of 10 shows over a zoning dispute.

Darren Ollinger, co-founder of The New Black Centre at 919 Ninth Ave. S.E., says the city told him last month to immediately “cease all live events” or face a $1,000 fine. “We painstakingly dumped our pockets into this thing to make it build and grow, create a scene. It’s just hard.”

The New Black Centre, which also has studio and recording space and has been open since December 2008, isn’t zoned for live shows, says city planning manager Thom Mahler. “[The zoning] allowed for the recording component, but it doesn’t allow for the entry for people as a performing arts centre.”

Venue organizers “kind of” knew the space wasn’t zoned for live events, says Ollinger, but were told by the city that so long as they recorded performances, they could have shows. Now the city is requiring that venue organizers apply to rezone the land — a process that costs more than $1,000 and requires approval from the landlord and city council — if they want to keep hosting performances. Mahler says it’s “quite possible” that a rezoning application for the venue would be successful.

Ollinger says it’s “ironic” that city council recently approved almost $2 million in funding for the Calgary Folk Music Festival’s new performance hall on a house lot a few blocks away.