please empty your brain below
My eldest keeps on about how sad it is to lose the Astoria but personally I never cared for it as a venue, appalling sound and one of my mates got pushed down the stairs and jumped on by a bouncer. I'll admit that might have left me slightly biased.

Sad to lose yet another music venue I suppose but I'm sure the new station and raised piazza will be absolutely wonderful.

NiC | Homepage | 24.01.09 - 8:42 a.m. | #

Is the original Mr Topper on the demolition list too?

stroppycow | Homepage | 24.01.09 - 10:59 a.m. | #

You're so right - it's very sad to see how this corner will end up looking like any other bit of the redeveloped city. Charing Cross Road was my teenage heaven and now it's going, (Shipley's art bookshop closed now and news that Murder 1 is closing)it makes me feel old. Mind you I am a bit old, so maybe I'm just getting miserable old geezer syndrome.

Barry Jackson | 24.01.09 - 11:15 a.m. | #

Shame shame Shame.

Anonymous | 24.01.09 - 11:18 a.m. | #

London is a living city - for it to breathe it can’t be stuck in a bottle of formaldehyde and left on a shelf somewhere...

Paul | 24.01.09 - 12:13 p.m. | #

I still miss the scuzzy cafe that used to be under St Pancras station roadway, fronting the Euston Road. At the first sign of any area's redevelopment, all the individual shops and cafes are swept away and we get a shiny Starbucks in its place. Am I the only person who's never been to a Starbucks? I actively avoid them.

kenromford | 24.01.09 - 1:18 p.m. | #

My honest opinion?

The Astoria should have been demolished long ago. First (and last) time I went there was to see the Wedding Present in spring 1992. It was skuzzy dive inside then, perhaps less so outside than it has become since.

And the poky dive that is TCR tube station likewise urgently needs its replacement.

So good news all round, I think.

(Well, they could demolish Centre Point - or as the building itself is not unattractive, the problem with it is the way that it deadens the space at street level around it, at least move it to the edge of Romford or Croydon or somewhere like that,)

Phase II: all those dubious electrical goods stores to go. And the ugly ABC (is it still called that...probably an Odeon by now) cinema to go.

What a horrible dive the entire eastern part of Oxford St and surrounding bits is

Venichka | 24.01.09 - 1:49 p.m. | #

The current TCR station is horribly cramped, but it would be a shame if they got rid of the Paolozzi mosaics.

Forest Pines | Homepage | 24.01.09 - 2:17 p.m. | #

Some extra entrances and extended underground concourses, Montreal (or Canary Wharf) style are long overdue. Anything's better than the cramped staircases and that god-awful subway from the St Giles High St side. I just hope they do the job thoroughly (right up TCR to past Sainsbury's on both sides, right down CXR on both sides and across to the other side of Centre Point).

And while they're at it, the Leicester Square and Oxford Circus concourses and entrances need the same sort of treatment.

Autolycus | Homepage | 24.01.09 - 4:32 p.m. | #

This to me seems to be a classic Catch-22 situation. We all want Crossrail and better public transport in and around London, but we also want to preserve historic venues such as the Astoria.

I would like to think that the present businesses will be given first refusal on locations within the new Crossrail station. However, I have no doubt that the rents will be sky high, so only chains such as Starbucks and McDonald's will be able to afford them. Independent retailers, such as the Dionysus chippy and Greek restaurant won't get a chance. Just for the record, I don't mind chain retailers, but I would like to see some independents among them so shoppers could get some variety.

As for the Astoria, I just think it's a shame that such a historic gig venue, which has played host to up-and-coming artistes such as Pink Floyd and Jimi Hendrix, will now be pulled down, probably to be replaced with something bland, characterless and non-descript. I know we have to move with the times, but it would be nice if architects gave new buildings some character and uniqueness, rather than using the same old plate glass, concrete and shiny steel.

Andrewh | 24.01.09 - 4:58 p.m. | #

The last and only time I went to the Astoria cinema was to see the film "West Side Story", probably in 1962/3.
Pity too see the place go though.

John | 24.01.09 - 5:40 p.m. | #

The infrastructural improvements are well overdue, but what a pity the new station has none of the architectural vision of, say, the Jubilee line extension stations.

hedgie | Homepage | 25.01.09 - 1:10 a.m. | #

Oh, I used to love Die-Nasty, it was the best place to get late night chips after clubbing before the night bus home. Not that there was a great deal of choice mind you...

That whole junction is cramped and the pavement groans to support the many people who push past. The area under Centre Point is dire. As much as I hate to see old buildings get swept away, I think this might be for the best, as long as they keep the Paolozzi mosaics, as Forest Pines says above.

Jayne | Homepage | 25.01.09 - 10:13 a.m. | #

The Astoria was a dump, with the most vile bouncers on the planet. The only pity is that they won't be in there when it gets demolished. One of my friends once got into an argument with one of them for not standing in exactly the right place in the coat queue (he wasn't trying to jump the queue, just standing off to one side). Not only was he thrown out, but so was a completely innocent queue member who tried to calm the situation down. I ended up collecting both their coats. And it was always a struggle to get to the disgusting toilets. Good riddance...

Baldassaro | 26.01.09 - 9:50 a.m. | #

Do you remember when Dionysus used to be further up the road on tottenham ct road, about half way up to LASKYS? I do!

k | 26.01.09 - 12:38 p.m. | #

Yep - the old Dionysus was by yet another pub called the Blue Posts that one looked like the Gold Rush ride at Blackpool Pleasure Beach, with plastic 'wooden' beams.

Smeeg | 27.01.09 - 12:07 p.m. | #











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