Nightlife notes: Foundation closes its doors

By TOM HORGEN, Star Tribune

Last update: April 18, 2008 - 2:01 PM

A long goodbye

Foundation, a downtown Minneapolis haven for electronic music and underground hip-hop, has closed for good.
Since opening in July 2006, it stood in stark contrast to the glut of Top 40 clubs that populate downtown. But financially, going against the grain isn’t always a good thing.

After a brief hiatus in January, and a “conflict of opinion” with the club’s founding investor, co-owner Beecher Vaillancourt said he and partner Zak Khutoretsky decided that the money just wasn’t there to keep going.

A new nightspot called Element will open this summer in the club’s basement space in the Lumber Exchange Building at 5th Street and Hennepin Avenue.

You can view its website at www.elementmpls.com .

Stay tuned for more details.

Vaillancourt, 27, is now handling concert bookings at Epic (formerly Quest). Khutoretsky, 31 — a veteran DJ also known as the Devious One — said he’ll continue doing sound-system work and will DJ and promote underground shows.

They said they have few regrets about Foundation. For a year and a half, the club booked a variety of dream shows, including Afrika Bambaataa, Grandmaster Flash, Justice, Slick Rick, Mark Farina and DJ Qbert. Sometimes it was too many, Vaillancourt said.

“We were kind of like kids in a candy store,” he said.

Khutoretsky added: “Ultimately, what we were doing probably couldn’t have survived in that space in downtown. We gave it a good run, and I think people enjoyed our venue.”

Both think there is still room in the downtown scene for a niche club like Foundation.

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