Roxy Art House RIP

Today we received the sad news that Edinburgh's Roxy Art House has been forced to close due to the financial difficulties of its parent company. The news is surprising, especially following the success of recent nights like last weekend's Hidden Door, which drew massive crowds and sold out on Saturday night. We were looking forward to their Death Weekend Halloween extravaganza, but sadly it was not to be as the staff had intended. Subsequently, part of Death Weekend has now moved to the Forest Cafe on Sunday night, and the staff have released the following statement:

"We, the former employees, are saddened to announce the closure of the Roxy Art House as of yesterday, 28 October 2010. This is due to the bankruptcy of the charity who owned the Roxy, Edinburgh University Settlement."

They go on to apologise to the people who will be let down by the closure and the resultant cancellation of bookings. "We know what these events mean to you, they do to us too. Our sincere apologies. Please trust that no-one is more disappointed than we that these events won’t be going ahead.

"We would like to thank all of you who have crossed our threshold since January, when the new management took over. Artists, musicians and our life and soul – the revellers. Thank you all so much.

"Looking back over the past 10 months and seeing how far we have come, and how much distance we have covered in trying to realise that goal [of creating a multi-arts space for Edinburgh], we feel proud. And, as much fun as it has been, we would like to stress that we always looked at the Roxy as a project that needed to be commercially viable – which it was."

The staff end with the promise that they will be back. Let's hope they are. The Roxy was turning into a venue that was genuinely original, forward thinking and most importantly fun. And, as they say, Edinburgh needs a multi-arts centre.