Village Underground eyes new venue at Hackney Arts Centre

The team behind popular East London venue Village Underground has unveiled ambitious plans to reopen the dilapidated Hackney Arts Centre in London as a multipurpose arts space, it has been revealed today.

The art deco building in Stoke Newington was opened in 1936 but has since laid empty for the last 30 years.

Village Underground wants to reopen the space as a new music venue that would offer space for music, theatre, performance art, lectures, talks and more.

"We unearthed a hidden treasure — a dilapidated art deco theatre, locked behind rusted-shut doors for 30 years," Village Underground's founder Auro Foxcroft told Resident Advisor.

"It's incredible that you can still make discoveries like that in today's London. We've been working on the project for over a year. We want to breathe life back into this historical building and restore it back to its intended use, a major cultural and community space for Hackney and for London."

There will be a planning consultation period so local residents can voice their opinion on the new space before the proposal will be put to Hackney council in the coming weeks.

You can find out more about the space and Village Underground's plans here.