Celebrated nightclub The Regal on Cowley Road is set to close at the end of this year after its owners agreed to lease the building to a church group. The Christian Life Centre, who are set to take over, already have premises in the nearby vicinity but feel that they have ‘outgrown’ this.
Philip Abayateye, from the church, told Cherwell, “The Regal recently came onto the market and the church leadership felt that this would be an asset to CLC’s vision. The Regal is located in the heart of Cowley and is known in Oxford as an ‘iconic’ building. Our hope is that our vision and presence will engage the community and enable us to serve and help to deal with problems and challenges that people face in their individual lives.”
The Christian Life Centre held their first service at their new home last Sunday and commented that, “despite being in a new environment the church was not fazed and rose to the occasion. Attendance was superb with over four hundred people many of whom were new visitors…. In all the service was spectacular.”
A spokesman from The Regal told Cherwell, “The Regal is closing down because the owners of the venue received an offer for the lease from a local community group, and in the current climate they decided it was too good an offer to refuse. The new lease holder… obviously [has] certain beliefs that don’t really fit in with a nightclub. So whilst the venue remains licensed and the churches intend to continue to run events, there’s no way that any club promoters are able to work with them.”
Revellers on Cowley Road on Monday night were vocal in lamenting the loss of The Regal. The area is home to many students from both Oxford and Oxford Brookes, and hosts the Friday Varsity night, “Warehouse”, for Brookes students. This according to The Regal is, “about to be named one of the top 5 student nights in the country”. One male student emphatically noted, “I don’t know what to say without blaspheming!” He added, after gaining some composure, “we would rather have the club…everyone goes to The Regal, nobody will go to a church.” His sentiments were echoed by a female student who concisely retorted, “good night out, bad church.”
The Regal said, “Our message to the clubbers would firstly be to say thank you for your support. Everyone who currently works for The Regal are really sorry that it’s come to this…[the church] will never make as many people happy as The Regal does.” Nonetheless, when asked how they would react to students irritated by the club’s closure, the Christian Life Centre noted that, “We would aim to reassure the students that as a church we are committed to the students of Oxford and already have a great number of young people in Higher education. We already host events and evenings which enable them to socialise and develop holistically.”
Trish Attwooll from the Divinity Road Area Resident’s Association commented that they were pleased with the situation, saying, ‘The news that the Christian Life Centre has taken a lease on The Regal can be viewed as good news in one way in that it will reduce the pressure on local services – police and environmental development – and will allow the residents to have a little more sleep. “
However, she added that the association is, “slightly concerned about the car parking situation.” Due to the fact that, “The capacity of the Regal is very large, and the likelihood is that the worshippers will come from far and wide.’
Cherwell understand that after the Regal has been fully taken over, the venue will continue to host gigs of sorts, but the nature of these is as yet unclear. The Christian Life Centre commented saying, “It’s still early days and the leadership of the church are in discussion about future events that will engage the community. It is tricky to specify the types of ‘gigs’ that shall be hosted, however rest assured we plan to host regular events that support and uphold the churches visions and goals and enable all to have a good time.”
The spokesperson the Regal seemed equally unclear noting, “I’m sure there will be some live music gigs and some Christian shows but beyond that I don’t know.” This in itself was equally a source of annoyance for would be club-goers, with one female student commenting, “they really need to decide whether they are going to be a gig venue or a church.”
When describing the takeover the Christian Life Centre said, “we knew the owners had pre-booked events. Our desire would have been to take over the building completely, however we have agreed to allowing the owners to honour their bookings leading up to Christmas… even though we are currently sharing the premises with non-Christian organised events we [will] promote the gospel unwaveringly.”
The management of The Regal further noted, “The transition should be smooth, there’s no real conflict of interest or dates and the two crowds won’t mix.”
