Motel One | London Road | 42m | 14 fl | Demo

[dhulkamaniac]

Originally Posted by highriser

lol , would that be Rod ?

No not mr connally .... my friend steve runs the big scrum and bear club..... rod runs bollox one of the best nights around!!

[dhulkamaniac]

And as much as i love legends and wish it could stay its not the nicest venue needs a lick of paint ....BUT thats what sets it apart from most other clubs.... Iv been leg ends!! at least 100 times.... and never had a bad night in there but saying that if its for the better??

[urbnist]

Well I'm perplexed bysome of the reaction to this proposal. Manchester loses yet another piece of its cultural heritage and for what? As a new building it looks fine but the least you would expect of such a controversial proposal is for it to be able to make a positive and transformative impact on the area. But realistically, anything built on this site will barely be noticed, dominated by both 3 Piccadilly Place and the station ramp. And by adopting a standard modernist aesthetic (necessarily so it must be said), this proposal will make what is currently a diverse street scene very much less interesting.The smaller Victorian buildings contribute much more through the sharp contrast in scale and style with next-door Piccadilly Place.

So, a multi-million pound investment yields some rather anonymous dormitory space for visiting footy fans whilst sweeping away a collection of infinitely more interesting and important buildings. Not happy.

[urbnist]

Originally Posted by The Sloth

This is fantastic news! I'm glad the ugly Victorian Facade won't be saved!

Who needs historic buildings? What's our history/heritage anyway? It makes all foreigners feel unwelcome as it's all about them now...

I'm sure a German city wouldn't mind an Engerlish firm bulldozing their history for a cheap-ass hotel.

Bring it on! New Milton Keynes is nearly realised!

[kids]

Originally Posted by urbnist

Well I'm perplexed bysome of the reaction to this proposal. Manchester loses yet another piece of its cultural heritage and for what? As a new building it looks fine but the least you would expect of such a controversial proposal is for it to be able to make a positive and transformative impact on the area. But realistically, anything built on this site will barely be noticed, dominated by both 3 Piccadilly Place and the station ramp. And by adopting a standard modernist aesthetic (necessarily so it must be said), this proposal will make what is currently a diverse street scene very much less interesting.The smaller Victorian buildings contribute much more through the sharp contrast in scale and style with next-door Piccadilly Place.

So, a multi-million pound investment yields some rather anonymous dormitory space for visiting footy fans whilst sweeping away a collection of infinitely more interesting and important buildings. Not happy.

This building will bring footfall into a dingy end of town and sharpen up the streetscape and ultimately could open the door for the redevelopment of the fire station. Unlike something like the Salford Lad's Club or Coronation Street the twisted wheel club is completely uninteresting to the sort people who we want to come to Manchester and spend money, and is honestly only a footnote in the popular cultural history of one city. You have got to be kidding me if you think that is enough to even stall this project.

[Joydivison82]

I go to some of the rock nights held at this venue and have done since they started in around May last year.

I am quite sad that this venue is going to close and be pulled down BUT it is a bit of a dive. I am more sad that clubs keep closing. At this rate Manchester will be full of hotels but with no people in them because all the venues and attractions have been knocked down to make way for budget hotels.

I just hope Legends can find a new venue, it has already moved from its original location where 5th Avenue is now.

[macc]

I do like the scale and massing of the proposed hotel and I think Monroes will look great in there. With all regeneration going on in the immediate area the pub is bound to be tydied up eventually.

I genuinely like the little row of buildings where Legends is though. I can't say I've ever been in and as single entities none of the builings look anything special but as a mini strip I think it's got character. Granted they need sprucing up but seeing that tour link I posted on the other thread makes it all the more interesting.

It'll be another piece of old Manchester gone. While the city will become that little bit nicer it'll also loses that little bit of irreplaceable character. The new propsal is interesting too though. If it were to be a new Travelodge I'm be far more dissapointed.

Shame they can't flatten that shit apartment block between here an The Hub. That I find far more offensive and incogruous.

[flange]

Twisted Wheel To Be Demolished For German Motel

Paul Berentzen on how a plaque will replace the Northern Soul club that gave a whole subculture its name

THE TWISTED WHEEL, the home of Northern Soul and a rocking slice of Manchester history, could soon be demolished to make way for a 330-room budget hotel.

London-based developers The Olympian Group has purchased the plot and have agreed a leasing deal with German hotel chain Motel One.

The Twisted Wheel site, which is now Legends club, was at the heart of the city’s soul scene in the 1960s and still hosts Northern Soul nights. But now it looks set to be replaced by yet another hotel, despite plans for similar developments at the nearby London Road Fire Station and Gateway House.

Promoter Pete Roberts worked hard to bring Northern Soul back to Whitworth Street after The Twisted Wheel was forced to close in 1971. He would hate to see it knocked down.

“No one will shed more tears than me if it closes,” he said. “It will be a very very sad day if it gets knocked down.”

“The real tragedy,” he says, “is that by knocking down the club the city is effectively erasing an important part of its history. What annoys me is Manchester so often has fails to recognise and celebrate what it has got. The things that are already there.”

He compared – as Confidential did last week with the Corrie set - the situation to Liverpool’s famous Cavern Club, which was considered so culturally important that it was rebuilt after being demolished in 1973. It would be nice, he added, if the Whitworth Street club didn’t have to be knocked down for people to realise its significance.

He said: “So many great names have played here. We were bringing black American artists to the The Twisted Wheel when they weren’t welcome in their own country and we treated them like gods. But no one gives a shit about that.”

When the owners of the club went into administration, Julian Lyons and his partner Jorge, who run Legends, were ready to step in and purchase the property. Their plans were scuppered at the last minute when a bid of £1,050,000 came in from the developers.

Lyons said: “The only way we could get our current lease was with a break clause if the owners wanted to renovate. We were given notice, in accordance with our lease, that we should leave at the end of 2012.”

But having put so much into the club over the last few years he is hoping something can be done to prevent it being knocked down, although he was far from optimistic about the situation.

“It’s a bummer,” Lyons said. “It would be a crying shame if it were to go.”

He added: “One concern is that the proliferation of hotels in the area gives the owners of the Fire Station on London Road an excuse to delay work – and we all know how long that has dragged on for.”

When Pete Roberts first went to the club with his idea over a decade ago, he knew it wasn’t going to be easy. Trading under a new name, Legends was a gay club, not a soul club, but he persuaded the club to let him have a Thursday night slot.

Before long The Twisted Wheel had proved such a hit it was bumped up to Fridays. Now it takes place twice a month, on the last Friday and the second Sunday of the month. People come from extraordinary distances to dance the night away – reflecting the cult nature of Northern Soul and its resilience asa popular culture phenomena. Confidential has heard one regular punter flies in from Marbella for the nights.

Roberts said: “The club has gone from strength to strength. We can get 700 people in here on a Sunday afternoon and an average of 250 on a Friday night.”

Stephen Hodder, chairman of the architectural firm that won the contract for the hotel Hodder + Partners, said they had had one meeting so far with city planners and hope to have a planning application submitted by the end of the month. They are hoping to go to committee by 31 May.

Mr Hodder said: “We’re going through the consultation period now - so far so good. The historical significance of the site has been brought to our attention and our client has agreed that somehow in the development there will be a plaque in recognition of The Twisted Wheel.”

That might not be quite what fans of The Twisted Wheel had in mind.

For the time being they will hope they can convince the council to reject planning permission once the application is made.

Mr Roberts said: “I only hope whoever’s bought it doesn’t get their own way with it.”

But whatever happens, Northern Soul will live on. He will make sure of that.

He said: “If the club goes, I’ve got to move elsewhere. I don’t want the name to die. We can never ever replicate The Twisted Wheel but we can’t just stop.

“If we do move I’m going to look for the dirtiest, scruffiest basement club I can find. I want the seediest place there is. That’s what this club night is all about.”

A spick and span German motel won’t quite fit the bill.

One last question (to be explored in the Manchester context later this week on Confidential): Would Munich the home of Motel One rush to demolish an interesting collection of nineteenth century commercial and industrial buildings in its city centre especially when they contain one with such ground-breaking popular culture credentials?

The Twisted Wheel Story

The Twisted Wheel club has a long and colourful history. The club first opened in 1961 on Brazenose Street, before moving to Whitworth Street two years later. The Twisted Wheel would stay put until 1971, when it was closed down by the authorities, with a byelaw stating premises couldn’t stay open longer than two hours after midnight.

Fans of soul music would travel from all over the country to come to the Twisted Wheel and hear its signature brand of up-tempo rare soul music that became known as ‘Northern Soul’. This followed a visit by music journalist Dave Godin who noted how this subculture was very different from anything in the capital.

The most renowned nights were the all-nighters every Saturday from 11pm through to Sunday 7.30 am. DJs played new records generally not played elsewhere. Each week at 2am Soul artists performed live at the club including American artists Junior Walker, Edwin Starr, Oscar Toney Jr, Marv Johnson, Johnny Johnson and the Bandwagon, and Inez and Charlie Foxx.

In 2000, Pete Roberts finally managed to secure a regular night in the Whitworth Street building and bring Northern Soul back to the Manchester club scene – in the space where it was christened

http://www.manchesterconfidential.co...r-German-Motel

[Cherguevara]

That apartment block is vile.

Kids - I don't really agree with all of what you're saying. Sure a hotel will bring some people, but at the expense of valuable night economy leisure space. The strength of a city like Manchester in this regard is the diversity it can fit into its relatively small central area. As more of more of these venues are redeveloped this ability is lost and the city becomes a less attractive place. Perhaps not to tourists (who are fairly rare in Manchester anyway) but to potential residents where the availability of niche scenes that Legends caters to does matter.

[macc]

[ManCon's photo] See to me, this looks great. All but Monroes will be gone. With so many empty plots in the city we really shouldn't have to be flattening things like this to make way for new builds.

[AnIco]

Originally Posted by kids

This building will bring footfall into a dingy end of town and sharpen up the streetscape and ultimately could open the door for the redevelopment of the fire station.

I think it's more likely to stop redevelopment of the fire station; Langsam won't like the prospect of a large budget hotel right next door his own large budget hotel proposal, and I'm sure this 'spanner in the works' will cause him to keep stalling redevelopment.

[macc]

Originally Posted by AnIco

I think it's more likely to stop redevelopment of the fire station; Langsam won't like the prospect of a large budget hotel right next door his own large budget hotel proposal, and I'm sure this 'spanner in the works' will cause him to keep stalling redevelopment.

good point.


EDIT. Imagine the view office workers in on the south side of Piccadilly Place are going to get. See the pic above. A 12 foot gap then either solid wall or someone's hotel room window. Nice!

[dhulkamaniac]

http://www.change.org/petitions/manc...nds-nightclub#



PLEASE SIGN GUYS .... MANY THANKS

[kids]

You know clubs can move don't you?

[kids]

Originally Posted by Cherguevara

That apartment block is vile.

Kids - I don't really agree with all of what you're saying. Sure a hotel will bring some people, but at the expense of valuable night economy leisure space. The strength of a city like Manchester in this regard is the diversity it can fit into its relatively small central area. As more of more of these venues are redeveloped this ability is lost and the city becomes a less attractive place. Perhaps not to tourists (who are fairly rare in Manchester anyway) but to potential residents where the availability of niche scenes that Legends caters to does matter.

Could you not equally argue that demolishing this leisure space that is out of place and disjointed from the gay village strengthens not only this area but the gay village itself? I'd rather have a more nucleated and defined streetscape than something that is all over the place.

[dhulkamaniac]

I WILL FIGHT TOOTH AND NAIL TO SAVE THIS PLACE....

[Seasonedbest]

You can’t save club nights. The only thing that worth saving on those buildings are the chimney breasts.

[Cherguevara]

Originally Posted by kids

Could you not equally argue that demolishing this leisure space that is out of place and disjointed from the gay village strengthens not only this area but the gay village itself? I'd rather have a more nucleated and defined streetscape than something that is all over the place.

You could, but I doubt you'd get that argument to pass muster with most of Legends' patrons. To those that patronise it, it doesn't matter that it's not right in the Village (indeed its probably a plus); and the likelihood of being able to recreate something like that in the Village is slim anyway.

[dhulkamaniac]

Well this is intresting
type into google history of Whitworth St Manchester and it says that the area is a conservation area now isnt that a basis to refuse planning

over 500 people have signed petition in just a few hours... AND 700 people have joined a page on facebook against legends coming down

[macc]

Originally Posted by dhulkamaniac

Well this is intresting
type into google history of Whitworth St Manchester and it says that the area is a conservation area now isnt that a basis to refuse planning

over 500 people have signed petition in just a few hours... AND 700 people have joined a page on facebook against legends coming down

It's just outside the conservation area, I'm afraid. In That corner it stops at the fire station.