KITCHENER — The dust from renovations settled long ago around a financial hole that clouds the future of a popular live-music venue and restaurant in the downtown core.

The Rhapsody Barrel Bar opened in March 2016 at 179 King St. W. Business has grown 20 per cent a month, says Tammy Lawrence, the owner.

With 27 employees, Rhapsody Barrel Bar needs revenue of $114,000 a month to break even.

"We are almost there," says Lawrence.

Rhapsody features live music five nights as week and a comedy night every Tuesday. Sundays are reserved for private parties, charity events and CD launch parties. During its first 15 months, a clothing store was attached to the restaurant, but it was dropped because of low sales.

"While we are almost there I am still in this hole from what we started with, and that's the struggle sometimes," Lawrence says of the renovations to the 120-year-old building that went way over budget.

While she looks for an investor to secure Rhapsody's future, Lawrence also looks back on the launch of the business with a more experienced eye.

Live music and food are lifelong passions for the 48-year-old who was born and raised in Hickson, a village of about 300 in Oxford County between Tavistock and Woodstock. She worked as a management consultant and a sales manager. Later, she and her husband ran a landscaping and maintenance company, and owned a fertilizer manufacturer.

She divorced about six years ago. Her son was away at university and Lawrence was suddenly an empty nester. She started spending every Saturday afternoon with friends at The Boathouse in Victoria Park. Romeo Sex Fighter, a popular cover band from this area, played there every Saturday.

"They are completely awesome," Lawrence says of the band. "They made me fall in love with live music again. Those days at The Boathouse were changing for me. I am like: 'I really love this.'"

Not long after, Lawrence started looking for an empty building to house her rekindled dream — a live-music venue, restaurant and clothing store. She started searching around uptown Waterloo, but found the rents were too high and the university students too numerous.

"I decided to live my dream instead of everybody else's," says Lawrence. "I couldn't imagine myself going back to the corporate world again and working for someone else."

She was 46 at the time. "And I thought: Well, if you are going to do something it's now or never. You are not getting any younger," she says.

While grabbing a coffee at Matter of Taste in downtown Kitchener, Lawrence spotted the empty space at 179 King St. W. There was a sign in the window, so she called the agent and asked to see the inside.

"I walked in here, and in seconds I could visualize it," says Lawrence. "I had been looking for locations for well over a year."

There was nearly 5,000 square feet of space, lots of room for what she wanted. She signed a lease in October 2015 and "started the long process and journey, which some days were a nightmare, of renovating and trying to get this place open," says Lawrence.

She estimated the renovations would cost $175,000. A new commercial kitchen was included in that estimate. In the end, the renovations and upgrades cost more than $500,000.

"I love this building, it is a 120-years-old, but they are not kind on your pocketbook," she says.

The zoning for the building had to be changed. She wanted an occupancy permit for 240 people so the Ontario Building Code required a sprinkler system, and fireproofing above and below the main floor space where Rhapsody is located. There are apartments on the upper floors, so soundproofing was needed too.

The sprinklers, fireproofing and soundproofing alone cost about $150,000.

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"I was at $175,000 before we even put a hammer in anything," says Lawrence. "The expense was insane,"

She needed a bigger natural gas line for the commercial kitchen. And the water main needed upgrading too.

"Halfway through this project I thought: 'Should I just yellow tape this building, and cut my losses because this is turning into something I didn't foresee,'" she says.

Instead, she pushed the subcontractors harder to finish and she opened in March 2016. Within weeks, a heavy rain caused bricks to tumble from the façade. Luckily, no one was injured, but her new sign was heavily damaged.

Not long after that, a second heavy rain caused a leak in the ceiling. It happened again and some of the inventory in her clothing shop was damaged. Her apartment, which is located above Rhapsody, was also damaged. For weeks her apartment was sealed off as contractors removed black mould.

"I thought the building was cursed," says Lawrence. "So it was endless. It seemed endless."

While business in the restaurant and bar was increasing every month, the same was not true for the clothing shop. In June, Lawrence closed the clothing shop and converted the space into a lounge for lunches and private parties.

"I think about it now, and I am like: 'What the hell were you thinking? You've never run a restaurant before.' There are so many moving pieces in this business and parts," she says.

"It blows my mind what I have learnt in 18 months, and I learn a lesson every day, whether I want to learn it or not."

When the bar and tables are crowded with people enjoying the food and music, all of the hard work seems worth it. In the quiet of her office, though, it can be harder to find that good vibe in the books.

"I have literally sat in my office downstairs and just cried, been really emotional. Like: 'OK, I guess this is it, like I don't know how we are going to do this tomorrow,'" says Lawrence. "Something always happens. We just always found a way."

With the break-even point tantalizingly close and solid bookings for Christmas and New Years, Lawrence is not about to give up her search for an investor.

"Everything that I have is in here," she says.