It's been a brutal start to the year for Toronto's live music scene, and now theSilver Dollar Roomjoins the ranks of venues slated to close. The news broke after Toronto bandThe Highest Order announcedit was playing a goodbye show at the end of February in anticipation of the closure.

Reached by email, the club's booker Dan Burke confirmed that the Silver Dollar's days are numbered. "Right now, it looks like May 1 is our end date," he explained. "The building owner and City Hall have been working on aproperty re-developmentfor some time - and it was approved about a year ago."

It's not surprising that the talk of the club's future has been mostly quiet. The venue received heritage designation back in January 2015, but that doesn't guarantee the permanent protection of the building so much as make itmore difficultto ultimately tear down.

In any case, the club as we know it will be shutting down. We don't know yet about demolition plans. As to the future, there's been talk that a live venue might be a part of new plans for the site, but a shiny replacement could never replicatethe nearly 60 year old club.

In the meantime, Burke is organizing numerous farewell shows. "I've been in touch with many of the best and brightest artists we've worked with in recent years, and a lot of them are on board for a final play at the club."

Other noteworthy venues to shut down in Toronto includeHugh's Room(thoughthere's hope of a return),Soybomb HQ,the Hoxton, and (tonight)the Central. It's a scary time to be a live music fan in Toronto.