The ever-excellent artsed blog brings us news about that institute of Manchester music, Band on the Wall:

Band on the Wall has a long and enviable history. Starting life as a pub called ‘George and Dragon’ in 1803, it was a pub, hotel, and entertainment venue for more than 150 years before being saved in the mid 1970s by jazzer, Steve Morris. Thousands of acts have played there over the years, including John Cooper Clarke, Joy Division, The Fall, and The Buzzcocks.

Having taken the decision to close in 2005, to do vital building work and reinvent the venue yet again, it now seems as if the funding is proving harder to find than anyone would have thought.

The plan was for it to reopen bigger and better. But here’s what the venue’s own site currently says:

So, is the development going to happen?

We can’t say for sure yet, but following this submission (along with architect’s plans and budgets), the Arts Council and City Council endorsed the proposals, saying that they appeared ‘realistic and achievable’. They approved funding to take the designs to the next stage, with a view to final bids being made around late summer. If all goes to plan, we should be on site early in 2007, reopening towards the end of the year.

To force the issue an online petition has been launched and, as of today, 199 people have urged the Arts Council and other parties to fulfil their promise of support. Mine will take it to 200.