With the Bull & Gate no longer a live music venue, and the recent announcement of the Pizza Express closure, we are now seriously thinking it’s time to do something. After all, we are fortunate to have thousands of readers all passionate about the cultural health of the area.
Friday’s story on our wish for the iconic former polytechnic building’s assembly hall to be converted into a cinema or multi-use arts space has been our most read story all week, with a huge outpouring of support. As we have oft-repeated, there were once eight cinemas in Kentish Town alone. And one thing is absolutely clear: there’ll be mass outrage from you lot if the developers have their way and it becomes flats.
But back to the present. We asked Alan Morris, vice chair of One Prince of Wales Road Residents’ Association, what the hell is happening now. None of the residents are the wiser, he says: “We have not had any communication from the freeholder of 187 Kentish Town Road (our old assembly hall and now the Pizza Express restaurant), so we don’t know. We have not been notified of any planning application having been submitted, so we have no option but to wait to see what the owners have in mind for the future of the building.
“I can only hope that this important local heritage asset can now be properly refurbished and restored to its former glory and used in a way that befits the architectural quality of the internal space and its prominent landmark status on Kentish Town Road. This can be done without increasing its bulk, changing its elevations or shoehorning flats into its deep plan form. A huge number of people care a lot about this building and put in a lot of work to get the last planning application overturned at appeal. Let’s hope we don’t have to start all over again!”
Campaigner Sue Odell, a casting director, agrees. “We residents just want the facade of the building to remain the same. The proposed flats were going to be tiny and expensive and there were numerous problems – like access (nowhere to stop on that busy and dangerous corner). There were to be two shops or restaurants on the ground floor – we know that KFC were sniffing around (as they always are in KT) – more problems, not only mess and late night noise, but also that people would stop their cars on that corner to run in for a takeaway.”
Club Fandango promoter Andy Macleod, at the Bull & Gate until its closure last week, thinks so: “With every end there’s a new beginning so maybe an arts centre is exactly the kind of thing that could now flourish and reflect the diverse independent spirit of Kentish Town; and where better to house it than the former Pizza Express? It could become a mini Roundhouse, or, like the Latitude festival, celebrate live music, film, theatre, arts in the area. K-Town high street is anything but bland, and an arts centre could become its beating heart. The time is right to build a new legacy for the future – and that building is the perfect place to do it.”
“There have been lots of people dreaming about a cinema (including me),” says Alan Morris. “Any developer or commercial freeholder will however be looking for maximum return and that means a very high rent I’d say, making arts or cultural uses very unlikely. Maybe someone knows something that I don’t; but being optimistic, and putting ideas into the pot, what about resident Sylvia Libedinsky’s idea for a library and “ideas store” similar to what Tower Hamlets have done in Whitechapel?”
Another good idea. So if, as we suspect, plans for the Pizza Express building are already afoot, where else in the neighbourhood could we make this happen? We’ve emailed some of the independent cinemas in London – Everyman, Phoenix, Picturehouses and so on – to see if they’re interested in offering advice or their thoughts. So far, we’re sorry to say, not a single one has responded.
A note of caution comes from one reader, preferring to remain anonymous, who worked at Screen on the Hill in Belsize Park before it became the Everyman. “If the desire is to have a cinema masquerading as high-end purveyor of over-priced snacks and beverages and scant regard for film, then that’s fine,” he says. “Personally I’m not interested in venues where the prerogative is waiter service to premium-priced sofas. I’d like to see interesting and adventurous programming at the forefront and attempts to provide for the local community as a whole (not principly the monied elite).”
So do we push to challenge the developers behind the Pizza Express building? Or try and set up a Kentishtowner multi arts space elsewhere? How about West Kentish Town, with its galleries and creative spaces? Michael ‘Flaxon’ Ptootch thinks recently reopened St Luke’s Church could be the answer. “The Pizza Express building will never become an arts space,” he says flatly. “But St Luke’s could work for occasional films, performances, exhibitions and/or live or arts shows”.
What do you think? What other possible locations are there? Is anyone serious about all this? Over to you.
Words & Photographs: Stephen Emms
13 thoughts on “Wednesday Picture: Let’s make a K-Town cinema or arts space actually happen!”
I live in one of the adjoining flats and fully support the transformation of the building into a creative ‘hub’ or centre to be used by the community! The space deserves the effort required to return it to it’s former glory and I think it would make an amazing multi-purpose space for cinema, art, performances, learning resources, events etc. Unfortunately, I also realise that unless the developer chooses to sell the site, this is very unlikey to happen…but as previous actions have proved, it may be possible for the community to throw enough spanners in the works to force them into this position.
Say what you like about the monied elite, they’re more likely to keep a venue open than people who expect adventurous programming but aren’t prepared to pay for snacks.
I used to live in KT and now in Brighton, where a great programming and community involvement happens at the two Picturehouse Cinemas here. As such both cinemas are much loved. The idea of something in KT makes me want to come back and get involved!
The idea for a cinema is a good one but unfortunately for anything to work on that site it needs to make money. Unless the current owners are in the mood to donate the property and offer a dowry to cover development costs and operating bills. Which they won’t be, unless they’ve recently won Euromillions, because they have to make money to eat just like the rest of us.
If we’re to have any chance of saving the building the pipe dreams of arts centres and community hubs need to be put aside – unless we plan to have a community push to raise a few million quid to buy it in trust for the locals (which, by the way, I would happily contribute to).
Failing that, the building needs to balance both commercial success while retaining the historic facade. A niche cinema like the Everyman has a chance of being able to do that. So does a good (local or chain) restaurant. An upmarket supermarket (Waitrose, M&S) might be able to make it work if they can figure out how to use the space well – since we don’t have any of these in the local area at the moment. At a push, perhaps an interesting bar could succeed – e.g. could Camden Town Brewery attract enough traffic to turn it into a hub pub for their products, just as Brewdog have done in Camden and elsewhere.
So: short of the community fundraising drive, if we want to save the facade and protect it from being turned into ugly flats, my view is that we should be being realistic and pushing for one of the above. The pipe dreams are likely to prove counterproductive to saving the facade.
What about Everyman opening a cinema there – does anyone have a direct connection with them?
You should check out the people who run the Lexi. That’s very casual and community funded I think
A cinema would be perfect here. It would be much appreciated by KT’s underage residents I’m sure, as they currently seem to hang around outside my house and at Los Pollos! It would be a focal point for the community in an iconic building in the geographical heart of the town. How can we start the ball rolling?
What an exciting campaign! Yes, absolutely, to a multi-purpose arts centre. Surely KT could sustain this with all the creative talent in the area? There are ‘creative hubs’ currently growing in many of the UK’s cities – Bristol, Swansea – that could help give some direction.
as said before a mix between popular and “art”/”difficult” movies ala the old Screens and spare time could be used with workshops in cinematography etc be great to bring more art establishments rather than drinking dens and music venues, not that i’m altogether opposed to those!
This is a really exciting campaign. One possibility for taking it forward is the website spacehive.com – it gives a platform for crowd sourcing funding for projects.
A cinema would be fantastic. Restore a cultural experience that was once here, create jobs, get kids and their families away from their video games from time to time, bring members of the community together, along with some venturing in from neighbouring boroughs, and bring new life to that section of Kentish Town. No doubt the local pubs, cafes and restaurants would love to see all those filmgoers for their pre-film and after-film refreshments. Perhaps the cinema could host it’s own eatery and pub on site, too.
+1 for an Everyman cinema or similar!
Here’s a nice old photo of the auditorium of the Palace/Gaumont cinema, which was just across the road from Pizza Express at what is now the Camden Law Centre: http://www.flickr.com/photos/oldcinemaphotos/4295732802/
(Found at http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/15062)