Big Heavy World, the volunteer-run nonprofit Vermont music organization, will not have its lease renewed at 4 Howard Street in Burlington. According to founder and executive director Jim Lockridge, the organization must vacate the space by November 28, the result of months of unpaid rent and a recent break-in that proved to be the final straw for landlord James Unsworth.
“Our situation has arisen due to being (often) behind in rent payment, coinciding with an incident on the property involving our program hosts and unlawful entry into other tenant space,” Lockridge wrote in an email. “Our landlord has been an absolute angel to us throughout our presence in the Howard Space; my business has always been in an environment of respect, kindness, and his whole-hearted support of the arts community that resides here. The limits of his patience were exceeded and we can all recognize how understandable this decision is for him.”
With the suddenness of the closure, Lockridge said he is still trying to figure out the next move for Big Heavy World. He launched the organization in 1996, focusing on DIY, grassroots support of the Vermont music scene, with an emphasis on embracing technology to document its history. Projects such as the Tiny Museum of Vermont Music History and the Vermont Music Library will continue, according to Lockridge.
“My role is turning to establishing paths for our music archive and museum holdings to travel to institutions that recognize their significance,” Lockridge wrote.
Lockridge left Vermont last year, moving to Arizona to be closer to his family. But he still ran Big Heavy World from across the country, the stress of which also played a part in the organization’s gradual decline. “I’ve endured a path to resettling that has been uneven and highly distracting, and as the sole major fundraiser at Big Heavy, there’s been an impact,” he admitted. “It’s sensible for me to recognize that my responsibilities have to be unburdened, and giving up the physical office space was a direction things were heading, naturally, but with a longer planned-for timeline than we’re facing.”
Unclear is the fate of the Radiator, the online radio station that Lockridge and Radio Bean owner Lee Anderson launched in 2007. The Radiator went off the air as a terrestrial radio station last year, but has remained an internet station since, featuring local music shows such as the long-running “Rocket Shop” program, most recently hosted by singer-songwriter Abbey B.K. Lockridge did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the station’s future.