The venue operated as the nightclub ‘Life’ before its closure in the summer
An empty former nightclub is set for conversion into a music and comedy venue in an area “really underserved for entertainment”.
Stuart Cameron, who runs The Booking Hall in Dover, has asked Swale council for permission to reopen the Sittingbourne High Street building which was once Life.
A licensing application requests the right to be open from 10am until 11pm every day of the week. The venue is set to be known as the Swale Assembly.
Mr Cameron stressed: “We are obviously offering evening entertainment but it won’t be running until 2-3am like it used to, it will only be 11pm.”
He continued: “Over the last eight years in Dover we’ve created a sustainable music ecosystem.
“We’re basically going to try to build another community venue, this time in north Kent – it’s an area that’s really underserved for entertainment, there’s not much going on there so we think there’s a market for it.”
The venue is above the former Burton menswear shop, which then became Trade Counter, and was operating as the nightclub Life until this summer.
“The team behind it are the team behind The Booking Hall in Dover,” Mr Cameron continued.
“We want to bring quality entertainment to the community of Sittingbourne – that’s the aim basically. We wouldn’t even be opposed to a bit of theatre, though we don’t do it in Dover, but music and comedy are the main things we do.”
In 2022, Life had been subject to police licensing reviews, though it only ceased operating earlier this year.
People are invited to comment on the latest licensing application and have until January 6 to do so. If a licence is approved, Mr Cameron says it could be ready to open within weeks.
“It is quite a short timeline but we’re not rushing ourselves – we’re probably going to be open the first or second week of March. We want to get the licence in place and then spend some time renovating the inside.
“It’s not in a terrible state but we need to alter some of the stuff inside to make it a bit more suitable as an entertainment venue as opposed to a nightclub.”
The interior is currently undergoing a full refurbishment, to turn the former club into a “modern, purpose-built performance space,” according to a statement.
Mr Cameron is also the director of The Booking Hall CIC, which runs the Dover venue.
The Booking Hall bills itself as “Kent’s most independent live music venue” and will this month host a range of tribute acts to bands such as Guns N’ Roses, ACDC, Royal Blood and the Arctic Monkeys.
