Village Underground owners win approval in major plan to reopen art deco cinema as music venue
Village Underground new venue is taking shape...
Hackney Council has given its approval for the owners of Village Underground to renovate a derelict art deco cinema into a multi purpose arts and music venue.
The council's licensing committee signed off the multi-million-pound proposal during a council meeting on Thursday 20th July.
"We're hugely excited for this and for the future of the project as we now have the opportunity to build a world class cultural venue for Hackney and London," Village Underground founder Auro Foxcroft told Resident Advisor.
"It's a testimony to Hackney Council that they support major arts projects in this way, that they believe in their local cultural organisations and ultimately, that they act on the belief that culture and art are fundamental to us all, as individuals and society as a whole. We've already set to work, we're creating something new and beautiful for the cultural life of the city, something that we hope will be treasured for years to come."
During the consultation period, there were 428 letters of support and just 12 letters of objection from the local community.
The derelict art deco cinema, located on Stoke Newington Road, first opened its doors as a cinema in 1936 and was closed down 1984, where it has since fallen into disrepair.
Resident Advisor was given a tour of the dilapidated venue this week which you can watch below.
