Music fans have been asked to join calls in order to save Brixton Academy from permanent closure.
Lambeth Council is considering revoking the venue’s licence after a fatal crush there on December 15.
Two people died after the crowd surge at the concert by singer Asake and the legendary music venue has been closed ever since.
As well as petitions to save it reaching over 100,000 signatures the Night Time Industries Association (NTIA), which lobbies for the live music sector, is asking people to write a submission to the council by Monday, May 15.
The NTIA yesterday (Thursday, May 11) announced it had joined forces with Save Our Scene and the business improvement district for the area Brixton BID to prevent permanent closure saying it would have “huge ramifications” for businesses in the area who are heavily dependent on it for trade, leave a “huge void” culturally as well as a loss of jobs.
NTIA says: “Recent research has shown that we are already seeing an estimated 1/2 million pounds worth of lost revenue being suffered by local businesses every week since its temporary closure, with some unable to weather the suspension period.”
The Met Police investigation into what happened is continuing, but recently it urged Lambeth Council to strip the venue of its licence due to safety concerns.
The crush happened after more than 1,000 people turned up to the concert, many without tickets, and forced their way into the lobby of the building.
Mother-of-two Rebecca Ikumelo, 33, from east London, and Gaby Hutchinson, 23, from Gravesend in Kent – a security contractor working at the venue, were fatally injured.
The Met said officers were called to a “large-scale disorder” and arrived to find security staff “completely out of control of the situation”. In their recent letter to Lambeth Council, they said concerns have also been raised about the strength of the doors, staffing levels and the provision of medical cover.
The venue’s licence was temporarily suspended following the crush until January this year when a meeting was planned to discuss its future. Prior to that meeting, the owners of the venue the Academy Music Group (AMG) confirmed it would voluntarily stay closed until April as investigations into the crush continued. Lambeth Council then announced the licence would be suspended for three months.
AMG previously said it had made “detailed proposals that we believe will enable the venue to reopen safely”.
The letter that NTIA has asked people to sign highlights “a hugely diverse internationally acclaimed pool of talent” that has performed there since the former cinema and discotheque was converted into a concert hall in the 1980s.
It lists top global artists and mentions the work done to nurture new talent, as well as its fear that the closure could have “the potential to displace audiences into uncontrolled and unsafe environments for events.”
In the letter to Lambeth Council NTIA says it has “not lost sight of the tragic incident that occurred in December, but would respectfully ask you to consider working with AMG and the venue to learn from what has happened and enhance the licence to ensure that this could never happen again.
Adding: “At this moment I would urge all involved to step forward and engage in productive and meaningful discussions, with an aim to resolve the current challenges and present a unified position on delivering the safe and effective management of this space in the future.”
Click here to access the letter in full.