Tower - Hull Developments (sitios de interés)
Descripción del sitio
Carnival fever as Tower reopens
http://www.thisishullandeastriding.c...l/article.html
ONE of Hull's oldest entertainment venues is back in business.
The former Tower Cinema reopened its doors last night under a new name – Club Rio.
With dancing Brazilian-style carnival queens, palm trees and a 25ft waterfall cascading down behind one of the bars, it was a far cry from the original opening night back in 1914 when an orchestra entertained guests before they settled down to watch a black and white silent film.
The Anlaby Road venue closed as a nightclub almost three years ago.
Since then its owner Northern European Leisure and Hull City Council have been locked in a wrangle over delays to refurbishment work on the grade two-listed building.
Last year the company was fined £2,000 and ordered to pay £500 costs after the council took legal action over its failure to reinstate the decorative rooftop domes that were removed during a previous facelift.
However, the distinctive twin domes have recently been restored and last night ushered in a new era for one of the best-known city centre nightspots.
Arthur Wilder, a consultant for Northern European Leisure, said: "We have spent about £50,000 on the domes and have still got a bit of work to do to put the head stones back on top of them."We always said when we closed the club it would only be temporary because of the changes going on with the licensing laws and the big development in Ferensway, but the council kept on at us over all sorts of things.
"Eventually they threatened to prosecute if we didn't allow then access to the building so I arranged a date to meet someone and they never even turned up."
Mr Wilder said the new South American theme replaced an African one tried out when the club briefly operated under the name of Vision before its 2005 closure.
He said: "We've kept some of the interior features but we've also changed things quite a bit too, including heightening the dance floor."
ONE of Hull's oldest entertainment venues is back in business.
The former Tower Cinema reopened its doors last night under a new name – Club Rio.
With dancing Brazilian-style carnival queens, palm trees and a 25ft waterfall cascading down behind one of the bars, it was a far cry from the original opening night back in 1914 when an orchestra entertained guests before they settled down to watch a black and white silent film.
The Anlaby Road venue closed as a nightclub almost three years ago.
Since then its owner Northern European Leisure and Hull City Council have been locked in a wrangle over delays to refurbishment work on the grade two-listed building.
Last year the company was fined £2,000 and ordered to pay £500 costs after the council took legal action over its failure to reinstate the decorative rooftop domes that were removed during a previous facelift.
However, the distinctive twin domes have recently been restored and last night ushered in a new era for one of the best-known city centre nightspots.
Arthur Wilder, a consultant for Northern European Leisure, said: "We have spent about £50,000 on the domes and have still got a bit of work to do to put the head stones back on top of them."We always said when we closed the club it would only be temporary because of the changes going on with the licensing laws and the big development in Ferensway, but the council kept on at us over all sorts of things.
"Eventually they threatened to prosecute if we didn't allow then access to the building so I arranged a date to meet someone and they never even turned up."
Mr Wilder said the new South American theme replaced an African one tried out when the club briefly operated under the name of Vision before its 2005 closure.
He said: "We've kept some of the interior features but we've also changed things quite a bit too, including heightening the dance floor."