The owner of a Toronto recording studio is in shock after a blaze severely damaged his business Saturday evening.
Number 9 Audio Group on Gerrard Street East, just east of Sherbourne Street, caught fire around 7 p.m.
George Rondina, who has owned the business for 42 years, said he received a phone call from the alarm company and was told there were smoke detectors going off.
He told them to send the fire department, and emergency crews responded “pretty quick,” he said, but a lot of damage was still done.
“Our control room is pretty well burnt to a crisp,” he told Global News. “The live room beyond that (has) got a lot of damage as well. I think our piano has been saved.”
George’s son Matthew Rondina said “everything is very, very charred and there’s holes in the ceilings.”
Windows were also broken during the incident.
“It’s going to take a while to to get it back to to where it once was,” George said.
He said they’ve been in business for 42 years. They opened the location on Gerrard Street in 2004, moving from their original spot on Jarvis Street.
“Some of that equipment is worth a lot of money and some of it is vintage equipment that’s irreplaceable,” George said.
“So … it’s going to be hard.”
Matthew said it’s hard to see the business so damaged and reminisced about hosting different clients, friends, and parties.
“I just can’t believe that this happened, how quickly it happened,” he said.
George said they’ve had a number of notable clients who either recorded with them or rented equipment, including the Barenaked Ladies, Rolling Stones, and Van Morrison.
Matthew said his dad has put so much time into the business, trying to be one of the premier studios in Toronto.
They said they will come back, but the fire was a shock.
“It’s devastating. It’s absolutely devastating,” Matthew said.
They also took time to thank the first responders who went to the blaze.
Now, George is hoping his insurance company will come through.
“I’m hoping the insurance company does the job they’re supposed to do. Who knows? You know, you never know until you try and put a claim in,” George said.
There is no word on what may have caused the fire.