One of Aberdeen’s most popular bar and music venues is to close next month.
Downstairs on Holburn Street will shut up shop at the end of July and up-stairs, sister bar The Malt Mill will also permanently close in August.
Gavin Basset and David McGhie, who run the venues, announced the news over Facebook.
In a post published yesterday on the Downstairs’ page, they said: “It is with a sick feeling in my stomach, a heavy heart, welled up eyes and a huge sense of disbelief I post this.
“On July 30, Downstairs will no longer exist. This is not a re-brand, not a gimmick. This is the end of our music venue, our bar and our business.
“The Malt Mill will trade until August 19 and then that too will be shut.”
The decision follows a noise complaint and on-going sound-proofing issues, which led to a noise abatement notice being issued by Aberdeen City Council to Downstairs at the start of the year.
The pair now face raising £80,000 to make adjustments to the venue but with no way to raise the funds and no guarantee even that would save the business, David and Gavin have taken the decision to close the doors of the popular venues.
The post continued: “We are also just not making enough money and to be honest right now we need to try and make sure we do not leave in debt so honestly your support is needed at the end as as much as possible.
“In all in, even if somebody could raise us £80,000 it might still not be enough to ensure that we have a venue that can operate, or that it would be busy enough to keep the business alive.
“It feels a lot like we are giving up but in real life terms there just is nothing we can do.
“Words cannot describe just how hard this has been to write.”
It added: “Somebody may want to take the lease on, but they would be a fool to do so and I do not see it happening. ”
The post has now been shared nearly 400 times and hundreds have commented sharing their disappointment over the closure.
