News / Access Creative College
Once legendary music venue set to reopen as education and events space
A venue that hosted the likes of Nirvana and the Stone Roses is set to take on a new lease of life.
Access Creative College bosses have announced phase two of their city centre campus will open on September 24, following a £4.5m transformation of the Bierkeller and Harry’s Amusements arcade next door.
In a nod to the legendary music venue that closed its doors in 2018, the college is asking for photos from gigs over the years to create a memory wall within the new state-of-the-art education campus and events space.
is needed now More than ever
Facilities at the new premises on All Saints’ Street will include an event space and stage, a music studio and a range of production pods where students will be able to mix music, create podcasts and record video and sound. It follows the opening of the first phase of the city centre campus site in an adjacent building in 2019.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZOCQOCugts
“What’s so inspiring for our students is that, as we all know, so many of the bands that played at Bierkeller – including Nirvana, Stone Roses and the Arctic Monkeys – went on to garner worldwide success,” says Mark Smithers, Access Creative College Bristol centre manager.
“Harry’s Amusements also has a special place in a lot of Bristolians’ hearts, and although its days as an arcade are behind it, it’s great to be able to play homage to its history too and use the space to accommodate our faculty of gaming courses.
“2021 is Access Creative College’s 27th anniversary and as we look back at what the college has achieved in that time, our Bristol city centre campus is an incredibly exciting place to teach the next generation of digital and arts professionals.”
Bierkeller closed its doors in 2018 – photo by Martin Booth
Access Creative College, formerly known as Access to Music, operated from its Hengrove campus for more than 18 years. It was Bristol’s first college with a sole focus on the creative industries.
Artist development, music technology & production and vocal artist courses, which were previously run from the south Bristol site, will now be brought into the main campus in the city centre.
Anyone with old photos of gigs at the Bierkeller to share can email bierkellermemories@accesscreative.ac.uk
Main image courtesy of Access Creative College/Ambitious PR
Read more: Famous Bristol venue to become state-of-the-art education space
Our top newsletters emailed directly to you
