April Fools’ Day may have played its cruelest joke on the El Mocambo’s Michael Wekerle.

After spending five years investing a reported $30 million (he would only say the investment was “extensive”) renovating the legendary Spadina Avenue music club that has played host to everyone from the Rolling Stones to U2, the merchant banker and “Dragons’ Den” TV personality was finally set to open its doors to the public on April 1.

And he was going to do it in grand Canadian style … but COVID-19 had other plans.

“Ironically, it was April Fools’. I thought it would be ideal because I kept telling people it would open so many times that I sounded like the boy who cried wolf,” Wekerle, 56, recently said by phone.

“We had planned a full roster of Canadian music for the first four days that would include everyone from 54.40 to Our Lady Peace. We reached out to produce a special event for Ronnie Hawkins, who has played the El Mocambo more than anyone else. We had Crowbar, and Robbie Robertson was going to give a dedication speech. We had David Wilcox, Billy Talent, July Talk — we were working with City and Colour. We were really warming up to have a Kim Mitchell release party for his new album and a comedy act like the Trailer Park Boys.

“We had all these things planned. Unfortunately, it all fell apart.”

The 750-capacity El Mocambo wasn’t the only grand reopening stopped in its tracks due to pandemic precautions: the 171-year-old Wheat Sheaf Tavern, which had just undergone a facelift and held a preview party, was also robbed of its St. Patrick’s Day grand reopening.

“In fact, our opening day was supposed to be March 17, the day everything was shut down,” says Shawn Creamer, the Wheat Sheaf director of programming.

“We had live music planned from 11 a.m. to 2 a.m., and of course we had to cancel all that.

“But I think everyone’s got the highest of hopes that when all of this is over, people are going to want to drink and sing and dance again — and we’re going to be OK.”

Scuttled Wheat Sheaf plans included an alternative “all-star” band that included Creamer and Jud Ruhl from the Beauties, Michael Boguski from Blue Rodeo, Robert Sand from the Layrite Boys and the band Mariachi Fuego, plus a cover performance of the Pogues’ 1988 album “Live at the Town and Country.”

But Creamer says the province made the right call.

“We knew pretty quickly that a 200-capacity place is not a place for people to hang out.”

What was more of a disappointment for Creamer is that he had the venue booked for two months with mainly local talent.

“We had just trained the staff, stocked the kitchen and stocked the bar and, on St. Patrick’s Day, we still got a delivery of 17 kegs of Guinness although we weren’t open. They’re just sitting in the cold.”

While Creamer feels that the Wheat Sheaf is on safe financial ground, he’s concerned about his own Prince Edward County music venue, The Hayloft.

“That’s going to be a tougher haul,” says Creamer. “I do concerts on Fridays and, on Saturdays, we do barn parties, which includes tourist and bachelorette parties. It’s totally a tourist business. We’re in the middle of nowhere. You have to take one of our buses to come out to the barn to go to the show.

“Our opening weekend was going to be May 15 with the Sadies; I’m doubtful. And with tourists — are people even going to want to go?”

Another recently reopened venue — the Comfort Zone, which contains the Silver Dollar Room — is being offered for service to the homeless community.

“Our top priority at the Comfort Zone, the Performing Arts Studio and the Silver Dollar Room is to help the community,” says Silver Dollar Room CEO Korosh, who uses only his first name.

“We are ready to provide temporary shelter to the homeless right now.”

Korosh says he’s sent letters to Premier Doug Ford, Mayor John Tory and Parkdale-High Park Councillor Gord Perks, and is awaiting a green light.

He believes his facility could accommodate about 100 people with room for “proper social distancing.”

In Niagara Falls, Ont., the newly constructed 5,000-seat Entertainment Centre at Fallsview Casino was to premiere April 2 with country superstar Brad Paisley, and a future lineup that included everyone from Kesha and ZZ Top to Alison Krauss and Of Monsters and Men.

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Those plans have been scuttled — with the exception of Texas blues rock trio ZZ Top, still listed for mid-May — and the Paisley date is now pushed to Dec. 4. Others have been bumped to August.

Fallsview Casino had no comment.

The pandemic has also potentially delayed two other big openings.

Massey Hall was still under active renovation on March 30, with a construction worker spotted outside the Shuter Street building. But last Friday’s announcement that the province was putting a hold on all non-essential construction could further delay the music venue’s $142-million renovation and perhaps knock its proposed mid-2021 opening, already rescheduled from this September, further into the future.

When it does return, Toronto’s 126-year-old Grand Old Lady will include an additional 500-capacity performance space, an expansion of the Centuries basement bar to also hold 500, and a retractable floor for general admission events that will expand Massey Hall’s capacity to 2,900.

Massey Hall will also be home to the Eastern extension of Calgary’s National Music Centre, with a museum to celebrate Toronto’s rich musical heritage.

Elsewhere in the GTA, a 2,500-seat live entertainment venue promised at the Pickering Casino Resort could also be subject to a construction stoppage. The complex was slated to open this spring, with the venue and an on-site hotel to be completed by 2021.

Business consortium One Toronto Gaming, which also owns Casino Woodbine, Great Blue Heron Casino and Casino Ajax, could not be reached for comment.

Of all the venues mentioned, it’s Wekerle’s reimagination of the El Mocambo that drums up the most curiosity.

When the city finally deems it safe for the 10,000-square-foot venue to open, Wekerle promises a state-of-the-art transformation that will include three performance spaces (the Starlight Lounge on the first floor, the El Mo on the second and an artist’s VIP room on the third) equipped to stream high-resolution audio and video, plus a state-of-the-art recording and broadcast facility.

Each stage will front large LED screens with smaller 4K screens positioned throughout, and a floating floor and ceilings will keep the sound contained in the club.

In the meantime, Wekerle intends to use the El Mo’s streaming platform to benefit artists affected by the COVID-19 outbreak and raise money for mental health, as well as raise money for the club with an online auction of memorabilia, much of it from Wekerle’s personal collection.

Along with everyone else, he’s taking a hit as long as the doors remain closed, but he says he has a game plan.

“Yes, financially it’s going to hurt me,” says Wekerle. “I’ve made contingency plans to make sure that I’ve matched my capital — I’ve had quite a meltdown in my personal portfolio, but so has everyone else. It is what it is. You can’t do anything about it; you have to move on in life. Things will return.

“It’s like a chess game: you’ve got to look at your next four moves, not the first move you do.”

In the end, he feels confident the public will support the El Mo once it’s allowed to.

“We’re trying to resurrect a new kind of venue,” Wekerle says.