Supporters of Halifax's Khyber Centre have launched a "Summer of the Khyber" to try and convince Halifax council to save the ageing building.

They have six months to present a plan to sway council their way.

In the building's windows facing Barrington Street, giant letters read, "Khyber Forever" — a mantra that has guided supporters of the downtown icon, which has been around for 125 years.

Despite the building's history, it has been closed for the last year after asbestos was found. But, that hasn't stopped supporters from rallying their efforts to one day reopen the building as a hub for the arts.

Musician Joel Plaskett has been one of the more vocal supporters of the Khyber. He will be hosting a benefit as part of Summer of the Khyber to raise money for renovations. (CBC)

"There's something about the energy of this building that also fuels the conversation and the activity that happens in it," said musician Joel Plaskett.

"You can't just transplant these community groups, these artists and musicians, to some other building with dry wall boxes and expect the same kind of thing to happen."

Plaskett has been one of the more vocal supporters of the Khyber. He will be hosting a benefit as part of the Summer of the Khyber to raise money for renovations.

"Really, it's a drop in the bucket in the grand scheme of things in terms of the money that would be needed to renovate and fix up the Khyber building," he said.

"But, we wanted to make a gesture to both the public and city council that people really care about this place."

Friends of the Khyber, a coalition of advocates, has been meeting with community groups, architects, and selling t-shirts in an effort to reactivate the building's roots as a community arts forum.

"The power of all these communities together is going to be the key to saving the place," Plaskett said.

The Khyber was built in 1888 by the Church of England Institute. Over the years, it has been used for a wide variety of purposes, including becoming one of Canada's first gay nightclubs, The Turret.