AMG Balks At £9 Million Hippodrome

Academy Music Group is balking at the idea of spending £9 million to add Brighton Hippodrome to its chain of live music venues because new licensing restrictions mean the building will struggle to pay its way.

The Hippodrome has stood empty since AMG bought the lease in February 2007, but nine months ago the police added it to the exclusion zone for the licensing of premises.

That’s effectively eliminated the possibility of AMG operating club nights. The impact that will have on the building’s revenue streams has been enough to deter the national venue operator from a multimillion-pound investment.

In 2007 AMG also announced new venues in Leeds and Sheffield, which are now fully operational. Apart from London’s Brixton Academy, it also has outlets in other major cities including Glasgow, Newcastle, Liverpool, Sheffield, Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds and Oxford.

In the past, the Grade II-listed Hippodrome, a former ice rink, circus, theatre and bingo hall, has hosted shows by various acts from Max Miller to The Beatles and The Rolling Stones.

Terry Carnes, UK property services director for Live Nation, which is working with AMG on the Hippodrome, told the Brighton Argus that so far it’s cost £500,000 to find out exactly what needs to be done to convert the building into a music venue.

The Theatre’s Trust – the society that protects UK theatres – has just added it to the list of buildings that need special attention.

“We want to highlight the plight of the Hippodrome,” said Mark Price, planning and heritage adviser for The Theatre’s Trust. “It has been vacant for some time and the plaster work inside is now falling off. I know the leaseholders are working to repair it but it is a difficult project.

“There are sound containment issues. It will be very expensive to create the acoustic shell needed to stop noise disturbing residents,” Price explained, pointing out that there are residential properties all down one side of the street.

He said TTT believes Academy Music Group has the best people for the job, but without some easing in the licensing restrictions AMG says the cost is too high.