City centre culture venue

The venue should be for more than just music. It should be able to stage a music concert of any style, host the Antiques Roadshow, indoor electric Speedway, electric Moto-X, a show jumping event, a Tattoo, whatever grabs the imagination.

It needs to be large, almost the size of a football stadium, with access on almost all sides to prevent any area becoming a dark, 'behind the venue' blackspot . Commercial access could be made via Corporation St, coming in through the Lower Precinct, the top of which could be bridged and kept as shopping.

The corners of the Precinct as is would have to be cut away, and the stores occupying the present sites be extended along Smithford Way. It would cut down on the amount of empty shops, but what would be left over would be decent quality.

The structure should stand out, not be a pile of Gothic sandstone or London bricks. Most importantly, it should be near good parking and good eating.

Branching off from the Cathedral Lanes topic I feel we should have a new-build as a cultural centre. To me the Cathedral Lanes idea is a dead duck as the place would not have sufficient space to make any impression.

Perhaps we should have an opera house (but without Randolph Scott ) Seriously though, in my lifetime Coventry's city centre has never had any prestigious cultural venues that might attract people from the surrounding towns. With two universities in the city then surely there's an audience for a ballet/opera/orchestral type venue.

Culturally, Coventry has been a dead zone for years. All it had of any size was the run-down and shabby Coventry Theatre/Hippodrome.

The Belgrade was and is too small for much to happen there. Years ago, I went to see 'War and Peace', and there was only enough space to play out the first five pages. I left after page three and nipped into the Jaguar for a beer and a smoke.

Presently, Coventry is eclipsed by just about every town around it within 30 miles, but it doesn't need to be that way. Of course, it will take lots of cash to do something about it, and it will have to be spectacular, offering events that nowhere else can.

Coventry also needs a decent place for visitors to stay, again something badly lacking for years. The new plans for Cathedral Lanes sound good, but on their own are doomed to fail unless there is more to bring people in. Edited by member, 18th Oct 2014 2:36 pm

Montparnasse is the ugliest piece of the Paris skyline, and it's amazing to think the Parisians once thought the same thing about the Eiffel Tower. Many have said views from the top of the Eiffel Tower are the best views in all of Paris, because it's the only place in the city where you can't see the darn thing.

After every brilliant building the council destroyed the one thing they won't destroy is the one they absolutely should. I'd love to see the library rebuilt as an exact copy, a bit of culture. Also Butcher Row restored to the current empty worthless space where it was, somewhere with a bit of life and spirit in it.

Here's an idea to replace Cathedral Lanes 70s Paris

The old Locarno site is not large enough, and the Burges, Hales St and Trinity St is on quite a slope. Pool Meadow should remain as a bus terminus.

The reason that I picked the centre of the Precinct is because there is a huge expanse of shops, a good few of which are already empty or soon will be with the advent of Internet shopping. It would be near to parking and work with the plan to turn Cathedral Lanes into something useful.

You seem to have ignored Coventry's Warwick Arts Centre: Warwick Arts Centre is a multi-venue arts complex at the University of Warwick in Coventry, England. It attracts around 300,000 visitors a year to over 3,000 individual events embracing contemporary and classical music, drama, dance, comedy, films and visual art. Warwick Arts Centre is the largest Arts Centre in the Midlands, and the largest venue of its kind in the UK outside the Barbican Centre in London. Warwick Arts Centre comprises six spaces on the same site, including a recently refurbished concert hall, two theatres, a cinema, gallery, and conference room as well as hospitality suites, a restaurant, cafe, shops, and two bars. Not too shabby, then? Served by local buses, too

So that's more than 8 individual events each day of the year and 100 visitors per event. I wonder if 'events' really means lectures for their enrolled students.

No it doesn't Have a look at their website to see what's on - theatre, films, music, comedy, etc I've been to two concerts there, Jools Holland and Trisha Yearwood, and they were both sold out I know top comedians pack the place on their visits

The vast majority of people outside Coventry don't realise that Warwick University is in the Coventry area and it is too far out of the city to have any impact on the city centre. Also, we have people here in the forum moaning about the lack of interest in the city, no music venue et al, so obviously the WAC isn't cutting it.

Warwick Arts centre is excellent, but its lineup of music is very limited. And there is no way for other businesses to take advantage of footfall. Other cities have venues in the city centre that have a constant lineup of gigs - such as Wolves Civic Hall. Every time I go there I end up getting something to eat or drink nearby. Edited by member, 21st Oct 2014 6:08 pm

I would also say that it is too far out to be regarded as a serious Coventry venue. And Flapdoodle is right that there is nowhere around to benefit from people who wish to have a night out with a meal and a gig. I remember the Lanchester Poly used to be a serious music venue 40 years ago, but it had the advantage of location, plus a cheap bar, when it attracted top bands. I haven't been to the Warwick Arts Centre for years as it holds no appeal. Take a look at the businesses that have sprung up around the Belgrade and it shows that there is always a spin-off around a popular venue. I did just that a couple of weeks ago when we had drinks and a meal in the Town Wall before a gig at the Belgrade.

I was merely responding to this comment from Canada Clearly, his comment is inaccurate as Coventry has had Warwick Arts Centre for years I accept it's not central or a draw to bring people into the centre - that's a separate issue