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Groop Gallery closing its doors

Groop Gallery will be closing its doors July 31 at what the owner calls 'ground zero' in the city's downtown core at 1127 Third Avenue.
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After 5 years, Groop Gallery owner Melanie Desjardins recently announced that at the end of the month, she would be closing the doors of the gallery. Citizen Photo by James Doyle July 3, 2015

Groop Gallery will be closing its doors July 31 at what the owner calls 'ground zero' in the city's downtown core at 1127 Third Avenue.

It's been five years of dedication to her passion, said Melanie Desjardines, gallery owner, local business owner and artist.

"And for mostly personal reasons I will be closing Groop Gallery," said Desjardines. "It's kinda sad but I have put it out there that if someone wants to take the torch... but for five years I did it over and above my day job but it's not very sustainable for one person. I am exhausted."

Melanie and her husband Shelldon have owned S. Desjardines & Associates, a custom metal fabrication shop and their full-time job for the last 21 years.

Groop Gallery was host to regional artists and while the doors were open Friday and Saturday, there were exhibit openings and other community events held there many evenings throughout the year.

"Bottom line - I was on probably the worst block of downtown and that was definitely a contributing factor - I mean it wears you down after a while," said Desjardines.

She first opened on May 1, 2010, and at the same time the indoor farmers' market took over the space at Third and George, just steps away from her gallery doors.

"That was strategic on my part," said Desjardines, who has a marketing background.

Two years later, the rent skyrocketed for the market, forcing them to move to another location.

"That was a very sad day for me," said Desjardines, who said she's just got a lot on her plate and she just had to look at a way to lighten the load.

"After five years of going full tilt like that I just wanted to have two days off in a row," said Desjardines. "There comes a day when you look at your commitments and you realize something's got to change and after some soul searching I came to the answer that I can't be super woman any more."

When Desjardines first opened the gallery doors, she was on a mission to change the face of downtown Prince George.

"I'm super passionate about downtown and I do believe there can be change," she said. "I think what's happened is that so many people have given up - wolf has been cried so many times about downtown revitalization that people poo-poo it now and say it's never going to happen. But it can happen and it should happen."

Desjardines talked about how people who have lived here their whole lives avoid downtown because they know what it's like and they don't want to be witness to that.

"And that's what I've been fighting - is people's perception of the downtown and I did try to be a part of that change but I am just a small cog in the wheel."

Desjardines said she sees what others are doing in the city's core and has great hope. And then things happen.

"When HomeWork burned I cried," said Desjardines of the May 6 downtown fire. The fire that threatened her building was on George Street on May 4, 2014 and thanks to her fire-barrier of a cinderblock wall facing the fire, her building was spared.

"All those hits - it eventually wears you down," said Desjardines, who owns the building that houses the gallery.

She does want people to know, though, that when tourists come through Prince George, they do go downtown and she saw it first hand with the clientele coming through the gallery.

She saw visitors from China, Australia, from across Europe, all over the United States and other parts of Canada.

"About 50 per cent of people coming to the gallery were out-of-towners," said Desjardines. "People don't realize how many people who aren't from Prince George do go downtown and I felt very, very proud to provide that space to showcase a positive image for our downtown but they had to navigate the streets to get there."

Because downtown Prince George is zoned for commercial business with no restrictions, Desjardines is offering up the gallery space for lease.

"You have to have a viable business," said Desjardines. "What I did was not viable. I did it because I had a vision and I wanted to be a real art gallery. But only being open two days a week and only doing it by yourself - fine art just doesn't fly off the shelves."

There would be times when a month or two would go by without a single sale, she added. A regular business could not survive.

She said someone who could dedicate their time and energy to it could make it a success. She just didn't have the time to do it herself.

Her ultimate wish would be for the space to carry on what she could not - a dedicated art space.

As the owners of the building, carrying it as a loss has to come to an end and it's time for the space to start paying for itself, Desjardines said.