Cork music and art venue The Kino on Cork’s Washington Street has announced it will close its doors for good.
Writing on their website, the venue cited the Level 5 lockdown as the reason for the closure:
“Unfortunately we’ve made the difficult decision to close the Kino for good. We had come to a new agreement with the landlord recently to stay until the end of the summer. But due to the latest government extension of level 5 restrictions, we feel that it will likely be June or July before the live performance sector is allowed to re-open.
“It wasn’t feasible to continue paying substantial rent for the next several months in the hopes of maybe opening for a few weeks. Only to vacate shortly after in order for the building to be sold.
“It’s devastating to be leaving so much sooner than we had hoped but unfortunately the timing never worked for us in the Kino. We were only six months into what was a five-year plan when Covid came along and we were forced to close last March.
“In truth, we had just found our groove and the venue was getting a great name nationally. We never got a chance to fully realise our vision for the Kino. Had Covid not come along we would be in a completely different situation.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/CKyOuzhqYWq/
They added, “Everything we’ve learned from the Kino will all be put into practise in the next incarnation. We are exploring a couple of options in the city at the moment and hope to have a new venue for Cork before the end of the year.
“The live performance industry as a whole is in tatters and everyone from promoters to sound engineers and all along the supply chain are hanging on by a thread. Supports like the Live Performance Support Scheme are the only thing keeping some of these businesses alive and these need to be continued and added to for 2021 and 2022 or there will be a lot more bad news like this coming.”
The Kino also posted the news on Instagram, with users commenting their disappointment at the closure of this beloved Cork music and art spot. One user wrote, “Gorgeous venue, a huge loss for Cork. Wishing you all the best for your future ventures.”
Another wrote, “Such a loss for Cork, so sorry to hear this.”
Tickets for rescheduled shows that were due to take place in the Kino will be refunded and others are being moved to Live At St. Luke’s. The venue says that all ticket holders have been contacted.
READ NEXT: CMO: People taking holidays abroad this summer is “not realistic”
