The fight to keep the doors open of the historic Curzon Mayfair Cinema has taken a big step forward after it was granted further protection by London’s Westminster City Council.
The Grade II listed cinema, a popular venue for red carpet events and with its own Royal boxes, has been designated an Asset of Community Value (ACV).
This means if the owner puts the building up for sale within the next five years, community groups would have six months to raise enough money to buy it on the open market.
The cinema’s landlord previously sought to apply pressure in 2017, when the upper floors were converted to residential use and the landlord demanded costly noise mitigation works be undertaken.
At that time a ‘Save the Curzon Cinema’ campaign saw a petition in its defence quickly gain more than 27,000 signatures. The Mayor of London intervened to protect long-established cultural venues from ‘agent of change’ demands from new neighbours complaining about long-existing noise.
However, the next battle for the Curzon’s future looms, with the property’s lease soon coming up for renewal, threatening to end Curzon’s association with Mayfair after 90 years. The end of Curzon’s lease would seriously risk the venue continuing as a distinctive art-house cinema loved and valued by generations of Mayfair residents, and Londoners as a whole. There are concerns that redevelopment plans being considered by the landlord would put Curzon Mayfair’s rare and iconic design features at risk.
