When the Needle Vinyl Tavern, one of Edmonton’s newest music spaces, opens next month customers will have the chance to walk all over history.
The people behind the new venue are asking people to give them their old vinyl records so they can turn the basement floor into one big vinyl mosaic.
General manager Wesley Littke says it’s a nod to their historic location. They’re in the final stages of renovating their space in the Alberta Block on Jasper Ave, otherwise known as the former headquarters of the CKUA radio station.
“With CKUA, the record stacks were always in the basement, so we wanted to ensure that there will always be records in the basement of the CKUA building,” he said.
The basement of the Needle will house the coat check, ATM and bathroom—meaning most people will get a chance to see the creative flooring, Littke said.
He added that they’ll welcome “realistically, anything”—Littke has already contributed an ABBA record, among others from his own collection—but they’d love as many local artists represented as possible.
“We love local,” Littke said.
The plan is cut them up into curved shapes, preserving the labels as much as possible, to create a mosaic. They’ll be epoxied into the floor, so it’ll be pretty permanent.
They’ve had quite a few donations from friends and family, Littke said, but now they’d love the local community to contribute, especially since he estimates they’ll need about 450 to cover the whole floor.
Anyone with vinyl to spare can drop it off at Alberta Music, at 10722 103 Ave, weekdays from 9:30 to 4.
The deadline for donations is Friday Feb 19.
