Cardiff Rock Club Bogiez Faces Potential Closure, According To Reports
Wednesday, 29 May 2013
Written by Elliott Batte
Cardiff’s live music scene may face yet another blow this year, as Bogiez Rock Bar & Club faces potential closure to make way for student flats.
Bogiez only officially opened in 2011, after Barfly closed down following some rather bad scenes at a dubstep night in September the year before. The bar is a regular haunt for metalheads and rockers to down their Jagermeister and headbang the night away, however, there are reports circulating that the venue may be forced to close as TVE Ltd have submitted an application to turn Northgate House (the building above Bogiez) into a 66-bedroom student accommodation block.
The reports, which come from local news and media site WalesOnline, suggest that TVE Ltd have purchased the basement which houses Bogiez, 'with the intention to overcome obvious acoustic issues'. The report also states that TVE Ltd would transform the 'rather unsightly nightclub entrance' into a new lobby for their building.
Despite the potential plans, which would take a year to put into action, the venue and it’s owners remain confident that they’ll stay open and have issued a statement via the club's official Facebook page reassuring their customers and fans. One part of the statement reads:
“Genuinely awesome to witness the huge amount of passion and support for the venue HOWEVER, the worry is quite unnecessary. We appreciate there has been a tragic run of rock venue closures across the country over the past few years which no doubt fuels this fire a little bit. There is a POTENTIAL residential development occurring next door to our venue. IF the said development gets approval and goes ahead, it'll take quite some time to complete (well over a year currently).”
It continues:
“We're on good terms with the developers and have been in consultation with them for several months, they are working with us and we with them. There is no 'We're Being Forced Out!!' thing going on here. Everything is cool.”
Bogiez manager Tim Martin has also commented on the news, telling WalesOnline that 'nobody has spoken to us', and that 'at the end of the day we are happy and trading and we have got a lease in place'. SA Brains, who are letting the Northgate House basement out to Bogiez, seem to be weighing up the situation. A spokesperson says:
“SA Brain and Company Limited holds a long leasehold interest in the basement at Northgate House which has been sublet to Bogiez via Barfly Holdings (Cardiff) Limited. We are considering various scenarios in respect of this site at present but cannot be more specific at this time.”
Though the Bogiez owners seem to be unphased at the moment, regulars have been tweeting of their despair at the news.
The closure of the club would be terrible news for Cardiff, a city that has seen the Millennium Music Hall, The Point, and The Toucan Club closing in recent years. Even it’s long-running and iconic small venue Clwb Ifor Bach faces threats - check out our coverage of that here. What do you think of the news? Leave us a comment in the box below
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