5:30pm Tuesday 16th March 2010
A FACEBOOK group calling for Colchester’s derelict former cinema to be turned into a live music venue has attracted 2,500 members in less than a month.
Since Sam Ramsey started the group “get the old Odeon turned into a MASS music venue” on February 21, 2,571 people have signed up. The Crouch Street site has been empty since Odeon moved to Head Street in 2002.
Nightclub owner Steve Peri bought the site for £1million, but his plans to turn it into a nightclub were rejected by a Government inspector in 2008.
Since then, ideas put forward for the site have included an indoor market and a live music venue.
On the group’s site, Tom Van der Staay wrote: “I’ve always said it, if I was a millionaire, I would turn it into the best local gig venue in Essex. That place has so much potential!”
But Mr Peri gave short shrift to the idea. He said: “There are too many people sticking their noses in where it doesn’t belong.
“If it was viable, then I would have done it. But it’s not viable for me to do it.
“When the time comes, I will speak to the council and get the issue sorted.”
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