Date: Tuesday October 26
Time: 12:15pm
Location: HMV Institute, 78 Digbeth High Street, Digbeth, Birmingham, B5 6DY
Details: Photocall – Birmingham City Council Cabinet Members Cllr Timothy Huxtable and Cllr Martin Mullaney will give the official seal of approval to the HMV Institute.
Two Birmingham City Council Cabinet Members will tomorrow give their backing to a major new music and entertainment venue in the city’s cultural quarter.
Cllr Timothy Huxtable, Transportation and Regeneration, and Cllr Martin Mullaney, Leisure, Sport and Culture, will visit Digbeth’s HMV Institute on Tuesday October 26.
A much-loved part of the city’s social history, the former Digbeth Institute reopened last month after a multi-million pound joint venture between Birmingham City Council and HMV/MAMA Group. The Edwardian building has been restored to its full glory within a contemporary design.
The City Council’s Big City Plan Initiatives programme, which supports projects that reflects the city’s aspirations in the Big City Plan masterplan including the regeneration of the Digbeth area, contributed £1.75 million of funding to the restoration scheme.
This assisted in the refurbishment of the structure and delivered improved access to the venue, undertaken by the city council’s Urban Design working with Wates Construction. This work was completed in March 2010.
HMV/MAMA Group provided more than £2 million for the internal renovations which were completed in early September 2010, with the new venue’s Grand Opening taking place on 25 September featuring performances by local heroes Ned’s Atomic Dustbin and Fyfe Dangerfield.
Councillor Huxtable, Cabinet Member for Transportation and Regeneration, said, “The city council’s involvement in the project has helped to renew an important asset in the city’s property portfolio, bringing back to life an important part of Birmingham’s heritage.
“The joint venture with HMV/MAMA Group will enable the full use of an important feature in the Digbeth landscape and shows our commitment to the regeneration of the area. Our investment will, in turn, boost trade for Digbeth, bringing in people to the area who want to see live music and entertainment”.
Councillor Mullaney, Cabinet member for Leisure, Sport and Culture, added, “Through the Big City Plan Initiatives programme we are working with the private sector to widen the cultural offer in the city centre.
“As a key venue in Digbeth the HMV Institute is already attracting big-name international artists, emerging local talent and their fans. The city council has engaged with the creative community in the area, involving them in the creation of public art for projects such as the new Birmingham Coach Station and the proposed siting of the John F Kennedy mural”.
Andy Macdonald, hmvinstitute’s General Business Manager, said, “The hmvinstitute is an amazing landmark venue for Birmingham and the West Midlands, with great headline acts and club nights lined up. This venue has so much history and personality attached to it, and I feel sure that its versatile spaces and wonderful new amenities make for a remarkable live environment that will excite fans and will encourage artists to return time and again as a favourite stop in any tour”
ENDS
Note to editors:
Designed by architect Arthur Harrison, Digbeth Institute opened as an ‘institutional church’ on 16 January 1908, providing a café, a room for reading, assorted spaces for entertainment and assemblies, as well as hosting school classes and a number of societies. It was also regarded as an important place in the city centre at which local people could hear speeches made by famous figures, such as Neville Chamberlain.
In 1954/55 the city council purchased the building from the trustees, turning the venue into the Civic Hall and providing a space for public meetings. In later years Digbeth Institute became well-known as a place for live music and wrestling. Towards the end of its most recent incarnation, the building became linked with the development of British dance music of the late 1980s/1990s.
The restored hmvinstitute is designed to be a versatile, contemporary multi-space theatre. The hmvinstitute’s main auditorium has a 1,500 capacity (standing main floor with seated balconies), which is complemented by the smaller The Library which holds up to 600 people. There are also two further rooms: The Temple and The Congregation, each with a 300 capacity.
Bookings and enquiries can be made online at www.hmvinstitute.com from the venue box office or at the HMV store, 38 High Street, Birmingham.
Birmingham’s Big City Plan is the most ambitious, far-reaching development project in the UK, and seeks to define how more than 800 hectares of land in the city centre will be developed and used for generations to come. For more information about the Big City Plan visit bigcityplan.birmingham.gov.uk
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