If I remember well, this is what we did in the french
wikiquote case.
Actually, several core members were involved in
the closing, and
received plenty of support to make it possible to re-open it again.
They re-opened it with our support and as far as I am aware, there was
no criticism about the way the closure was done. You may consider
talking with
them:http://fr.wikiquote.org/wiki/Accueil
This seems to be evidence that such closures *can* be handled by the
community.
I got as far as 'Bonjour Florence'. ;-)