Thetownend.com

MUSIC lovers have had their prayers answered after it was announced that the town will finally have a top venue for live bands by the end of this year.

The town’s music scene has taken a giant leap forward following the signing of a deal to lease the former Mecca bingo hall, in Regent Circus, to GVS Ltd, a consortium of local businessmen.

And the group, fronted by local music entrepreneur Steve Causer, is set to kick-start the regeneration of the town centre, attracting revellers from all over the South West.

The building, which closed its doors in 2008 when the owners sold it to Swindon Council as part of a national rationalisation programme, is undergoing a makeover ready to fling its doors open to the public by November.

“There is a lot of work that needs to be done, from paint work, electrics, staging, lighting, everything you can think of, but the whole idea is that the venue will continue to evolve and keep changing,” said Steve.

“We want people to come here and have a different experience every time.

“Being local, and knowing the local scene, for us is a big advantage and we are keen to talk to local groups about using the building, so it stays at the heart of Swindon and Swindon people really benefit.

“For me, it is all about the alternative music, but I am looking forward to bringing something fresh and new in to the town, as well as the commercial chart acts.

“We want to kick-start the redevelopment of the town.”

The new name for the venue is under discussion but it is set to have a 2,000-person capacity, which Steve said would fill a much-needed gap in the town’s music scene.

“We have some great venues that seat around 300 to 500 people and we have the Oasis which can take 3,000, but we will provide a great venue for bands to progress on to in between,” he said.

“There is nothing like this in Swindon.”

North Swindon MP Justin Tomlinson welcomed the news and said it would help the town’s economy.

“This is an absolutely fantastic opportunity and I was extremely supportive of the plans whilst I was a councillor and we have shown through the success of the Oasis leisure centre as a music venue, that there is a huge demand for concerts in the town.

“It will also help boost our town centre economy, and if anyone can make it a success, it is Steve.”

The former bingo hall has had a number of uses since it opened in 1929 as The Regent Cinema.

It had 1,322 seats, which it regularly managed to fill, along with an area at the back of the auditorium where patrons could stand while waiting for seats to become free at the end of the rolling programmes.

It was later renamed the Gaumont in the 1950s and the Odeon in 1962.

In 1974 the cinema was replaced with a bingo hall, originally called the Top Rank Club.

theres an ancient thread about this ,its one of Barrys mates doing it isnt it?

Nice idea... I would have loved the Mechanics to be used for something like this, but looks like that's just going to be more cheaply made, overpriced flats

Sadly, I think the time will come for the Mechanics where to have anything done there would be better than nothing.  I know the building is something of a sacred site for some, but getting things moving there is simply taking too long.  In most other places, the building would have been brought back to life years - even decades - ago.

arnt they taking the roof off it this week :hmmm:

arnt they taking the roof off it this week :hmmm:

Good stuff. Wonder what sort of bands are going to play there?

jedwood & olie muirs ive heard :headhurts:

We can invite triseros along with his rifle!

They are. It's causing fucking mayhem with traffic trying to get out of Town towards west Swindon. My usual 10 minute bus journey took 45 minutes today.

I can't help but think if it was a privately done thing, SBC would never have agreed to close the road. As it's one of theirs, they're happy to inflict misery on joe public.