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One of Coventry's biggest music venues is set for a major change - as it moves to a new location in the city centre.

The Empire, which currently calls Far Gosford Street its home, will be moving later this year as part of massive expansion plans.

It will soon be located on Hertford Street, in what was once the Cannon Cinema and the ABC Cinema and more recently JJB Sports and DW Sports.

The move into the unit, which has remained empty since the closure of the sports store, will see the capacity of The Empire increase from 900 to 1,500.

Owner Phil Rooney has revealed that they are planning to be up and running by August or September, though the ongoing coronavirus pandemic could alter the timeline.

Plans to upsize The Empire have been in the pipeline for some time, with Coventry City Council and The City of Culture assisting venue bosses - the latter supplying a £40,000 investment which will see City of Culture 2021 activities and events take place at the new venue.

Artists impressions of the brand new Empire venue show that it is set to have a balcony bar which overlooks Hertford Street.

Floor plans also show that the venue will have two rooms - a large concert space, and a smaller room for more intimate shows.

It also shows that the space can be configured as exhibition space or even as a banqueting suite.

And venue bosses hope to be able to attract bigger names and larger crowds - in a similar vein to O2 Academy sized venues that are dotted in cities across the UK.

Scope to get bigger

Speaking to CoventryLive, Mr Rooney said: "We're hoping to have the new Empire open by August/September, hopefully a little earlier. All existing shows, apart from a couple in June, have been moved from Gosford Street to the new venue.

"When it opens, the starting capacity will be 1500, because we want to see how the venue flows. That'll take around six months, and it will be an evolving thing. I'd like to see it get to 1,800 eventually.

"It's a much stronger location. We should be able to put on bigger shows and get bigger names. We want to get people into the city - who will spend money elsewhere in the city when they are here.

"Eventually, the diary will expand. At the minute, we're a bit limited with the space at the Empire, but we want to put on bigger shows, and some comedy nights.

"Once we're open we'll do a couple of open days to let people come and have a look. We want to work with local community groups too."

Location, location, location

In terms of the choice of location for the Empire's ambitious new project, Phil said: "Around 12 months ago, with our lease on Gosford Street coming to an end, we were aware that we had to have a think.

"I don't think people understand the work that goes into getting artists into Coventry, and we didn't want to close and lose the work that we'd put into the Empire.

"One day, my son Jack was walking through town, and came back and told me that DW (Sports) has closed, and I thought, I need to have a look at it.

"I went to Coventry City Counciil, they've been fantastic, hugely supportive, and with their help, it allows us to invest money into turning a sports shop into a high end music venue which will bring in 20-25 jobs.

"We signed a three year lease two weeks ago, and we're now waiting to select a local building firm to get the work going."

Martin Sutherland, Chief Executive of Coventry City of Culture Trust said: “We’re delighted to see The Empire move to new, bigger, premises in advance of a very busy 2021 when we seek to throw a spotlight on Coventry’s live music scene.

“Our £40k investment in organisation and audience development activities will help this iconic Coventry venue reach increased audiences from across the city and help it make the most of Coventry’s year in the spotlight.”