Central Station in Kings Cross needs our help...

[AirmaxUK]

I saw this on Twitter and thought I'd post it here, too. 

Central Station is struggling in the lockdown as is asking for help to stay afloat.  I think it would be sad to see another venue disappear, especially one that has played host to sleazy clubs like SOP, Pants, Feet on Friday, to name a few. Many of my memorable experiences have taken place in their underground club in the basement. If Central Station closes, I believe that these clubs will find it almost impossible finding a new home in London and we risk losing them along with an important hub in the community.  

[think before following links] https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-central-station

 

[GoingEasy]

Thanks for posting this. Let's support them!

[1hornyjohn]

12 hours ago, AirmaxAndy said:

I saw this on Twitter and thought I'd post it here, too. 

Central Station is struggling in the lockdown as is asking for help to stay afloat.  I think it would be sad to see another venue disappear, especially one that has played host to sleazy clubs like SOP, Pants, Feet on Friday, to name a few. Many of my memorable experiences have taken place in their underground club in the basement. If Central Station closes, I believe that these clubs will find it almost impossible finding a new home in London and we risk losing them along with an important hub in the community.  

[think before following links] [think before following links] https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-central-station

 

Hi. I read that the pub had kicked the various clubs out. There may well be lots of empty or underused premises post lockdown.  Hope so.

[ssoranaid]

I just donated

[jonny4dad]

Great venue - this is where I got pozzed.  Defo need to keep it going.

[1hornyjohn]

7 hours ago, jonny4dad said:

Great venue - this is where I got pozzed.  Defo need to keep it going.

Me too

[AirmaxUK]

11 hours ago, 1hornyjohn said:

Hi. I read that the pub had kicked the various clubs out. There may well be lots of empty or underused premises post lockdown.  Hope so.

There may be some underused or empty premises post lockdown but the issue with opening new venues is property prices and  the licensing policies of the different boroughs - you need a special kind of license to have a sex-on-premises establishment and they are very hard to come by.  It used to be the case that only two boroughs in London would consider issuing them: Islington and Lambeth. The owners of CS told me that when it came to license renewal time there was always very strong opposition from the local residents, other local businesses and property developers keen to gentrify the area and push property prices up further, so it was always a difficult fight to keep the basement open. I am grateful that they did. 

I do hope the scene has a revival, but there needs to be a lot of change in the capital to make that happen and although Covid has slowed things down, there is a lot of inertia and money involved: it is moving too much in the other direction for that change to happen soon. 

 

[gayskinuk]

21 hours ago, 1hornyjohn said:

Hi. I read that the pub had kicked the various clubs out. There may well be lots of empty or underused premises post lockdown.  Hope so.

I'd also heard from the promotor of one of the clubs that use the basement that the owners had already decided on a new approach for the basement post lockdown and that the sex clubs would not be re-opening there.  Not sure I want to support a venue that's already decided that its future won't be as a sex club venue....

[LetsPOZBreed]

Agree with the previous poster.  S.O.P. has already said that they won't be returning and would look at alternate venues.  Which is a shame, since that's the one I frequented.  There will certainly be pent-up demand for when this type of thing can return, but the real question is where/if they would find any space to do so.

[cannero]

On 2/14/2021 at 8:44 PM, gayskinuk said:

I'd also heard from the promotor of one of the clubs that use the basement that the owners had already decided on a new approach for the basement post lockdown and that the sex clubs would not be re-opening there.  Not sure I want to support a venue that's already decided that its future won't be as a sex club venue....

As someone who has spunked and pissed all over that floor, as well as in and over the punters, gotta say that the team that gets sent in to refurb the basement deserves their own C5 documentary!

[AirmaxUK]

On 2/14/2021 at 8:44 PM, gayskinuk said:

I'd also heard from the promotor of one of the clubs that use the basement that the owners had already decided on a new approach for the basement post lockdown and that the sex clubs would not be re-opening there.  Not sure I want to support a venue that's already decided that its future won't be as a sex club venue....

 

12 hours ago, LetsPOZBreed said:

Agree with the previous poster.  S.O.P. has already said that they won't be returning and would look at alternate venues.  Which is a shame, since that's the one I frequented.  There will certainly be pent-up demand for when this type of thing can return, but the real question is where/if they would find any space to do so.

I can't speak for SOP - but, as I have run some other events at the same venue, I received a letter from the owners last year saying that since the underground space couldn't be used for our events due to social distancing rules, they wanted to put it to other uses to generate some revenue to help make up the shortfall. The information that has been missing is whether the change of use is a temporary or permanent change. Central station have kept their cards close to their chest on this and I've not gotten an answer out of them on it - they likely want to keep their options open - but, honestly,  I can't see "The Velvet Lounge" being successful and making as much revenue for them as the previous clubs did without an expensive refurbishment, which we know they can't afford, especially now.  I'm betting that if it survives, then in the long term there is a good chance the clubs might return. What's clear is they will never return if it doesn't survive. 

I've told our customers that we're going to keep an eye on things and our first choice is to return when we can, but that is likely still a long way off yet. If that's not possible for whatever reason, we'll look at other venues - but I'm not doing that until we need to.  

I'm not aware of SOPs plans, but I did see they (along with other clubs) were in the list of 'top donors' on the GoFundMe. 

 

[hornynhung]

Yeh I loved SOP, that was last sex club I went to in October 2019, great for bareback and piss , loved the sleazy friendly guts always up for fuck or piss. Last time fucked 2 guys In front of bar while getting pissed on !  🙂 

[NoFucksGiven]

7 minutes ago, hornynhung said:

Yeh I loved SOP, that was last sex club I went to in October 2019, great for bareback and piss , loved the sleazy friendly guts always up for fuck or piss. Last time fucked 2 guys In front of bar while getting pissed on !  🙂 

Same here. Loved SOP.

[Spunkinmyarse]

I’m afraid we might have to fight hard post-COVID for sex-on-premises venues.  If the powers that be try to shut us down completely by refusing to issue licences for such premises, we may have to start taking direct action.  I suggest that at the next Pride March (whenever that’s “allowed”), we start having sex openly on the street to make the point that there’s nowhere else for us to do it.

[Guest Grayson]

20 hours ago, Spunkinmyarse said:

I suggest that at the next Pride March (whenever that’s “allowed”), we start having sex openly on the street to make the point that there’s nowhere else for us to do it.

I suggest that regardless of the availability of other venues 😂