The curse of 1402 Meridian continues: the City Paper reports The Dunes, the art space and performance venue above the former Getaway restaurant, is closing April 30th. They report that the landlord has other plans for the space and didn’t renew their lease. Owner Ra Jah Kelly told the CP “we hope to continue our work in another location should the opportunity present itself.”
I never went to The Dunes, but a number of my friends had for concerts, art events, and more, and all really liked the space.
If you recall, this is the third place in that building, on 14th and Meridian Place, to close. The downstairs two floors used to be Social, a restaurant and bar with a somewhat strange vibe. That place closed after about a year amidst unclear circumstances, there was apparently some disagreements between owners, which included security guards threatening reporters.
The space was later taken over by The Getaway, a 60s car chase-themed bar. It opened in June 2011 with much better reviews and better crowds than Social. I ate and drank there a few times and always liked it. The downstairs is a cozy bar which the upstairs is a really big, open, airy spot, which contributes to a bit of a funny vibe. It’s sort of too big to be a normal dining room, and even with better decorations than Social, it was still just a little off. They did have a nice patio, though. The Getaway also closed, in December 2013 after about 2 and a half years in business. I haven’t heard the reason why it actually closed.
I’m not sure what the landlord plans to do with either space, but I hope it succeeds — and considering three places have now closed there, I hope the landlord isn’t the problem.
