It hosted some of The Tragically Hip's earliest concerts and has been a gathering place for Kingston's LGBTQ community. But now the Grad Club says it's facing a more than 300 per cent rent increase that could force its closure.The Grad Club at Queen's University in Kingston, Ont., has been a campus landmark for decades. The university, which owns the building, plans to raise the rent by more than 300 per cent over the next five years.
That doesn't sit well with the non-profit Society of Graduate and Professional Students that runs the club, and has operated in some capacity since 1963 before renting the current location in 1979. The club serves as both a dedicated study space for students and a favourite gathering place for the wider Queen's and Kingston communities, Hobill said.Local Kingston student hub is now at risk of closing after a massive rent increase
The university also noted it provided the Grad Club with rent relief for two years during the pandemic, but said maintenance and upgrades to the building have "have far exceeded the for several years," costing nearly $650,000 since 2017.Queen's said it believes phasing in the rent increase will help the non-profit that runs the Grad Club "prepare and adapt.