Birmingham has welcomed major regeneration in recent years, including the Bullring Shopping Centre and in 2006, Birmingham City Council granted planning consent to Martineau Galleries for a £600m Eastside Parks development, including the Priory Square Shopping Centre and Dale End, incorporating the existing location of Carling Academy Birmingham and surrounding area. The project team proposes a mixture of retail, leisure, office and residential spaces, with work anticipated to start in 2009. The Academy will continue to trade whilst development of the new venue takes place.
"We've known of the proposed development at Dale End for a number of years and have been actively looking for a new venue for some time. The site of the former Dome nightclub ticks all our boxes, it's a landmark building in a City Centre location, it's the right size and space to develop our strategy of a multi-room format and we can really push the boundaries to create Birmingham's very best concert venue," says Academy Music Group's chief executive officer, John Northcote.
"Birmingham is very important to the Group as it was first City I chose outside of London some eight years ago to expand our Academy brand. From the off, it was a real success and without a doubt, is our busiest venue in the estate and it marked a true footprint for the roll-out of Academy venues nationwide."
(Jim Evans)
