Doctor Bob Funds Radstorm Building Purchase

By Wayves Staff • Halifax • 2025-05-18

"Doctor Bob," the primary care physician to the Halifax 2SLGBTQIA community in the 1970s and during the AIDS crisis, has made a donation to the Halifax arts and activism organization Radstorm to buy their building, and they're celebrating.

On Sunday, May 25, Radstorm will celebrate purchasing the building they’ve been in since 2018, made possible by a massive donation from Dr Bob Fredrickson. 

"We're inviting anyone who has any involvement or is curious about Radstorm, and anyone who wants to help Dr Bob celebrate," say organizers, "here's no need to RSVP; just show up."

The particulars are below.

Capp Larson, one of Radstorm’s founding members says, “The location, 2177 Gottingen Street was a dream come true. The fact that the same space is now Radstorm’s forever home is an incredible way to celebrate 20 years of this unique and inspiring space.”

I’m honoured to give what I can to help ensure that Radstorm’s energy and spirit continue to thrive and grow -- Dr Bob

Radstorm comprises several collectives, each focussed on activism via different forms of cultural activities or art, in a do-it-yourself way – meaning that someone does not have to have training or be a professional to participate.

  • The “SadRad” collective produces music events. “It started around 2012 as a response to the lack of all-ages venues in Halifax, especially for queer bands, punk music, and and anyone who may not be represented or are alienated by the larger Halifax music scene,” says one of the members. SadRad also runs a recording studio. Members can also learn and apprentice running shows and doing recordings.
  • The Anchor Archive Zine Library holds about seven thousand zines on every topic imaginable ("and many topics I have never imagined," says Radstorm member, Q community member and Wayves publisher Dan MacKay) and hosts workshops where people learn how to make zines, and in past years, "The 24 Hour Zine Challenge" where people get together in the space for a day and make zines in one day.
  • The Ink Storm Collective makes screenprinting facilities available and teaches people how to do screen printing.
  • Food Against Facism (FAF) obtains donations of ingredients from a variety of sources including local farmers’ markets, makes those into tasty, nutritious vegetarian meals, and distributes them in a variety of ways. There are always free, ready-to-heat meals in the fridge.

Radstorm has multiple stages of membership ranging from people who use the space, attend events and workshops there, to people who produce events there, to people who help make decisions, put the garbage out, wash dishes and keep the place clean and tidy as it gets reset for multiple types of events every single day.

A paraphrase of the organization’s Code of Conduct: “the facilities are available at very modest costs to any person or organization who aligns with Radstorm's principles of creating independent and alternative media, art, music & education, learning, creativity & skill-sharing, to people from all ages, backgrounds, races, sexualities, genders and abilities; to be a critical, political, social justice, anti-capitalist, anti-facist focussed space; queer-, trans-, two-spirited-, non-binary- and sex-positive; challenging homophobia, transphobia, sexism and the patriarchy.”

All events are all-ages, alcohol free.

“I got hooked on Anchor Archive,” writes Wayves publisher Dan MacKay, “when in … about 2010 I think, I went in and of course immediately went to check out the QUR section, and found a bright pink zine entitled Queers Read This. On the inside back cover was the text of a poster I’d seen on a telephone pole in the Castro 25 years earlier. It asserted that that part of San Francisco is a queer space, and that straights are guests who had better mind their manners - with very specific instructions.” [There’s a link to that text below.]

Dozens of organizations and hundreds of people use the space regularly or occasionally including The Elderberries and the Halifax Youth Project. One evening a week, the space is used for "Life Drawing" where artists and a model gather to practice how to remember what a model looks like, anatomy, movement and body shapes; there are typically four or five music shows a week and as many rehearsals.

“SadRad is used by many different musicians, artists, and other performers on a near-daily basis as both a stage for performances, and a home for creativity,” says core member Parker Babineau.

“Radstorm has helped me practice my craft as a musician that would have been financially inaccessible otherwise. I've met so many of the most important people in my life through this space - Radstorm is, without exaggeration, the only reason I live in Halifax," says muscian Lucas Goudie.

There’s a link to the space’s online calendar in the links below.

Anchor Archive, Ink Storm, and SadRad have operated out of a variety of places around Halifax since 2005. 

Anchor Archive, Ink Storm, and SadRad have operated out of a variety of places around Halifax since 2005. In the last few years they have been accumulating funds to purchase the building they’re in at 2177 Gottingen Street, close to Alteregos Café and Bus Stop Theatre, across the street from where Menz Bar was.

Last year, "Dr Bob" approached Radstorm about donating enough money to purchase the building. That process was completed earlier this month.

The building was owned by Dr Wally & Mary Schlech; Dr Schlech was the head of infectious diseases of Nova Scotia during the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s and 90s. “Wally and Mary have been renting the building to us for a very, very reasonable price for many years,” says one of the core team, “and they also sold it to us for a very reasonable price.”

The fact that we are now able to purchase this building means everything to the longevity of Radstorm. 

One of Radstorm’s founding members, Capp Larsen, speaks about the history of Radstorm and how meaningful the purchase of 2177 Gottingen Street is, “The beginnings of Radstorm started in a little red house on Roberts Street in 2005 with the creation of the Anchor Archive Zine Library. Then came InkStorm Screenprinting Collective and the SadRad Music Collective, who all merged to form Radstorm. Over the last 20 years, this collection of collectives has moved over 5 times, often pushed out of spaces that were demolished or renovated to build condos. In 2018 we were incredibly fortunate to move into 2177 Gottingen which was previously occupied by the Ark, a youth outreach space. The Ark and the building owners, Wally and Mary Schlech, were very supportive of Radstorm as they wanted to see the building continue to be used as a community space. The fact that we are now able to purchase this building means everything to the longevity of Radstorm. As rents rise and gentrification increases it would likely be impossible for Radstorm to find another equivalent location. When we were looking for spaces we tried to prioritize physical accessibility, financial accessibility, street front in a non-residential area, and in a central location on a bus route. We thought that getting all of these things in one spot was a pipe dream, but 2177 Gottingen Street was that dream come true. The fact that this is now Radstorm’s forever home is an incredible way to celebrate 20 years of this unique and inspiring space.”

Some thoughts from Dr Bob

I graduated from Princeton in 1970. That was the spring Nixon invaded Cambodia and all the universities shut down – the National Guard shot and killed four Kent State students. Got to med school in Cincinnati with a bunch of other long haired hippies from across the country, lived in a commune with med students, nursing students and some of the Broadway travelling cast of HAIR, and came to Dal for rotating internship. Canadian universities hadn’t known the student uprisings of the spring of 1970, so the long haired hippie medical intern was sort of a new breed in town. I was told on more than one occasion to remember I was treating little old ladies from Chezzetcook and I wasn’t in the middle of a hippie commune in LA.

I finished my internship just as the doctor of the Halifax Youth Clinic was in need of a new doctor; it was located on the second floor of the Khyber / Turret / Bean Sprout building. I had volunteered at a local street clinic in Cincinnati in med school, so this was up my alley. The clinic saw mostly young people but had some older people. Many were travelling (often without health cards) and low on funds, many were disenfranchised for some reason (addiction, past criminal activity, difficulties at home – e.g. kicked out for being gay, teen pregnancy, etc) We had a social worker on staff to help. I do remember walking into work one day and hearing Grace Jones’s disco version of “La vie en Rose” blasting away on the floor above us. I went upstairs and ran into Bob Ertel who told me the upstairs was becoming a gay bar to be called the Turret. I thought what a perfect addition to this building. Then, as often happened to community organizations, even those that have a useful purpose,  funding became difficult because the only income generation was the medical officer, so the rent and other salaries had to come from the $6.00 we got per visit from MSI. My salary was $18,000 per year but we were always behind on that. Finally, without other government funding, the clinic folded. So I didn’t have a job. I had moved to Canada because I didn’t want to practice in the US where the kind of treatment you got depended on your wallet. I came to Canada because we can give good treatment and access to people free of charge. I decided to start my own practice. With the help of a great friend, I found an office, and cleaned and painted it, bought a used exam table from a vet, cleaned and painted ,and then covered a piece of foam with Naugahyde, and started my own office the next month, and lo and behold “If you build it, they will come”- and you did.

So for the next 35+ years or so MaryLou — a fellow hippie RN who went to Woodstock — and I made friends and tried to deliver confidential, competent care  in a relaxed, informal walk-in style clinic. Our style brought us a collection of  wonderfully open minded, interesting people. Many were the same people who supported us both as we all dealt with the devastation HIV and AIDS brought our way. And yet every locum I had when I was on holiday remarked that it was the most enjoyable collection of friendly people they had encountered in any practice.

So now, I’ve been retired for several years. While I miss medicine, I miss sharing and helping people to live their lives the most. As we all plod along toward our respective best before dates, I can’t imagine a better way to do that. I am honoured to walk alongside my friend and esteemed mentor, Wally Schlech, and his wife, Mary. Their generosity has fostered the growth and spirit of Radstorm over the years, and I am proud to contribute what I can to ensure that energy and spirit continue to thrive. It provides motivated people with the opportunity to grow. It’s like a spice cabinet with a variety of flavours to try out while sharing with others. In the Home Shopping Club of life, it’s a definite ”must have”.

Could there or should there be ever more life in life?
Blessed be, der Bob

Who's invited: Dr Bob, the Schlechs, Radstorm members, friends and everyone
What: Celebration of Radstorm purchasing the building & Dr Bob’s donation. There’ll be music, snacks and beverages. During the celebration, Radstorm will be launching and presenting a zine created just to document Dr Bob, Wally, and Mary, and the environment they were working in in the late 1980s, early 1990s.
When: Sunday, May 25, 1-5pm
Where: RadStorm, 2177 Gottingen Street, Halifax

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