Lee Hurst comedy club to be rebuilt below Travelodge
LEE Hurst s East End comedy club is to be torn down after Town Hall chiefs gave the go-ahead for it to be rebuilt underneath a seven-storey Travelodge. The stand-up comedian s FymFyg Bar in Cambridge Heath Road in Bethnal Green which has hosted Jimmy Carr
LEE Hurst's East End comedy club is to be torn down after Town Hall chiefs gave the go-ahead for it to be rebuilt underneath a seven-storey Travelodge.
The stand-up comedian's FymFyg Bar in Cambridge Heath Road in Bethnal Green which has hosted Jimmy Carr and Alistair McGowan is being replaced by the 131-bedroom hotel chain which will have a purpose-built comedy venue on the ground floor.
Tower Hamlets council gave permission for the hotel to be built last week and DAM Estates hopes to complete it by February 2012 so it can open in time for the Olympic Games.
Hurst set up the club in 1987 in the nearby Approach Tavern where it helped launch the careers of some top comedians including Mike Myers, Harry Enfield, Jo Brand, Paul Merton and Jack Dee.
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He opened the 300-seat venue in Cambridge Heath Road in 1998 when it was known as the Backyard Comedy Club. In 2003 he considered standing as a candidate in the 2004 London mayoral election after a proposed development threatened to demolish his club.
But it never went ahead and the venue was closed in 2007 and re-opened as the FymFyg Bar a year later.
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The comedian, known for his appearances on the TV quiz They Think It's all Over, said: "The redevelopment of Cambridge Heath Road is bringing back to life a small section of Bethnal Green that has been left behind since the closure of the factories.
"For the comedy club, the chance to design a venue from scratch rather than utilise an existing building means I will be able to create a location which has the audience at its heart.
"I'm excited to help with the continued regeneration of Bethnal Green."
Travelodge says it expects to be the biggest hotel brand in the capital by 2012, with 46 hotels due to open.
