facebook.com/borg-ward
All ages venues come and go. It's what they do. Most fizzle out almost immediately, as the organizers run afoul of city codes or realize the difficulty of keeping a DIY operation in the black, and even the successful ones tend to have short shelf lives. The kids who start them grow up and move on. It's the cycle of life.
So the Borg Ward has long been an anomaly. A home base for the local punk, metal and experimental scenes, the Walker's Point arts space started in 2007 and hit all the usual bumps in the road: angry neighbors, financial crises, city inspections gone wrong, clashes between its organizers over what, precisely, the venue was supposed to be. And yet despite all those near-death experiences, it just kept going. It was like a ball somebody tossed in the air that you kept waiting to hit the ground, but it never did.
Well, at least until this week. Yesterday, the venue announced that after a remarkable (and improbable) eight-and-a-half-year run, it's closing its doors. "There have been many great moments that have occurred inside the husk and it has been unreal to see the changes within the Milwaukee music and art scene over the past near decade," read a post on the venue's Facebook page. "Thank you all for every show, art gallery, and event that has taken place in The Borg's presence, for now it is time to evolve and continue on with the Borg’s existential mission. Whether the Borg becomes omnipresent, lurks in the canals of history and time, or inhabits a new husk made out of walls, the Borg will continue to assimilate you all."
The venue's Jay Linski gave a more detailed explanation of the closure to the Milwaukee Record, and it won't surprise anybody who's been following the venue: an overflow crowd at a hardcore show attracted complaints and another round of scrutiny from the city. It's a scenario that's played out probably at least a dozen times for the venue, but this time it was the last time. "With the barrage of inspections and cops we have facing us, and a bit of concern of the structural integrity of the building itself, as the building was built in the late 1800s, we decided it would be best to bow out at the eight-and-a-half-year mark," Linski told the site.
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And while the Borg Ward's Facebook page is flooded with comments from regulars mourning the loss of the venue, Linski struck a more upbeat note in his email. "While tonight there is a void in our city and darkness has fallen upon us, tomorrow brings upon a new opportunity," he wrote. "Milwaukee is now in need of a solid all-ages venue for the smaller artists and for those whose musical interests are too experimental or removed from the mainstream."
History gives plenty of reason to be optimistic: Whenever there's been a glaring vacuum in the all-ages scene somebody steps up to fill it. And while it stings losing a venue that drew so many incredible shows—Touche Amore, In The Face of War, all those Milwaukee Noise Fests and punk benefits—it'll be exciting to see what springs up to take its place. Whatever does will be following in the footsteps of one of the most successful DIY venues ever to grace Milwaukee.
