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The Hustlers Also First Photo Stonhouse Street.jpg

The Rainbow Theatre

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My desire to see the Rainbow theatre reopen was thwarted by the high cost of repairs. £11.5m for internals alone. The total bill would have been around £16m at 1990 costings. It was a time following the stock market crash of 1987 when banks were running scared. In some cases commercial property values were falling at the rate of 20% per annum. And as we know, despite all that is said, banks are not interested in what goes on by way of activity. "I would cite particularly in arts and entertainment." All Banks are interested in is a win win situation. And the prospect of negative equity in the building made it a non starter. Be it a football stadium or an entertainment venue, banks are not really interested in its function. All banks want to know is how much they can sell it for if all goes wrong. As a matter of academic interest the Astoria (i.e. The Rainbow), was built in 1929 and let on a fixed 99 year lease of five thousand pounds per annum. I was offered the freehold for £1.2 million. I had Islington Council, Inner City Grants, The Police, Showsec all supporting me. With Islington council saying that if I could find a company willing to build a car park, that they would purchase the adjoining properties for that purpose. I had everyone behind me, including that expressed by David himself. The banks not one. 

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Bowie Guitar
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Having been discarded. An advertising sign that once hung high up on the front of the Rainbow Theatre.

A guitar signed for me by David.
Dedicated to the Rainbow Theatre. 

Sadly, as described above, finances prevented reinstatement of the building. A huge disappointment. A great building with a tremendous history of entertainment. 

Interesting isn't it that in 1997 the Blair government ordered the building of the Millennium Dome at a cost of £789 million, approx £1.5 billion by today's standards, without a clue as to what to put inside it! After its first year it was deemed a failure and languished empty for years at a maintenance cost of £1 million per calendar month. Before being saved by the entertainment industry.

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