ART REVAMP FOR CITY CENTRE PUB

EMPTY floors in a popular city centre pub are to be transformed into an arts and culture space.

We can reveal that the initiative will turn disused rooms in the Litten Tree pub into a pop-up exhibition and music area.

The ambitious plans will see the pub, formerly a Rover showroom, renovated in time for the City of Culture in May.

Known for its cheap drinks deals, the Litten Tree is a popular watering hole in the city centre.

If you remember the CET (Coventry Evening Telegraph) arts pop up a few years ago, which saw 25,000 people through the door, this will be very similar.

We heard from Alan Denyer, who is running the project.

He said: “I ran the CET [pop-up] at the old Cov Telegraph building back in 2017 /18 and it was such good fun to see Coventry people enjoying the space and interacting with all the art and heritage displays.

“I always had it in my mind to do a reboot of that format and I’ve been doing and I’ve been looking for a suitable building.”

Mr Denyer is a local businessman who runs his own restoration company, and said he wants the space to be open in time for the City of Culture.

He envisages the space to hold photography exhibitions, comedy nights, classical orchestra, and DJ sets.

But the top floors of the pub are packed full of old sofas, divan beds, tables and chairs, which have all piled up over the last few years.

Mr Denyer is working with the owners of the Litten Tree pub to get the space ready in time for May, but is that a little ambitious?

“If you were going to do something this year would be the year to do it when City of Culture is on, maybe it won’t be quite the massive influx of visitors that we’re expecting, given Covid, but there’s still a huge opportunity to do interesting things in interesting spaces, that’s what I’m about,” he said.

“The model is basically giving free space to people to do interesting things, that the public will get something from, what we’re trying to do is set up something where we open the doors, people wander round and see some interesting Coventry culture in a fairly informal setting, it won’t be like a gallery or museum,” Mr Denyer said. Mr Denyer said he wants the pop-up to be a flexible and fun place for the people of Coventry.

“Creative people in Coventry just do not have the opportunity to display their work, it seems crazy that we’re in this year of City of Culture, Coventry just doesn’t have the big warehousing or old factories that you might get in Digbeth or big cities that have huge big arts facilities.

“I am interested in the IKEA thing, there are big things happening there, but I can’t see that happening sooner rather than later,” he said.

And the building certainly has character, as Mr Denyer explained.

Built in 1911, the building started off life as a Rover showroom, then a war time food office, then a city architect’s office.

In 1950 it had a post-war facelift, and became ‘Foulkes’ bathrooms and fireplaces, and eventually in the late 1970s it became ‘Intershop,’ an indoor market that many Coventrians will remember.

He is hoping the arts space will be around for at least 18 months.

“If the City Centre South scheme gets the green light that’s all going to be redeveloped, the Litten Tree’s lease expires in November 2022, so that’s the time we’ve got,” he said.

Mr Denyer has kicked off the initiative with his own funds, as well as launching a fundraiser, and has asked people interested in volunteering or exhibiting their art to get in touch.

“Access to the space will be through the pub. Basically the pub will act as the custodians of the space. I want it to run as long as it possibly can and the owners of the Litten Tree are happy for it to run as long as they are there.”

If you are interested in volunteering to help renovate the space or exhibit your work, you can contact Alan Denyer on Facebook.

You can donate to the art project on the Gofundme page.