on the scene
from June 2006

Two years ago the White Bell Group - owners of The Basement Sauna Complex in Manchester - decided to extend across the Pennines into Leeds.

The result - that opened at Easter - was the Basement Sauna Complex next door to Mission. And very nice it was too - although not without the inevitable teething-troubles that come with completely fitting out a railway arch as a sauna: problems with the jacuzzis, the air conditioning and the computers. But whereas some venues would just shrug and say ‘We’ll fix it when we get round to it,’ the owners of the Basement are holding their hands up and admitting that it hasn’t gone as smoothly as they might have hoped.

‘Having secured a venue in Heaton’s Court,’ says John Hudson, General Manager (pictured), ‘we set about instructing a young group of architects to design a complex that would offer the familiar Basement welcome in a new and exciting environment.

‘The eventual finish was stunning, radical to say the least, with a range of yet-to-be-tried designs. However the price of these adventurous plans was yet to be revealed. An all-new build within the confines of an existing arch would be problematic, however we were assured by our architects that this was not insurmountable and that the new radical design would stand the effects of overhead trains and a lack of natural air conditioning.

‘Having now been open for five weeks it is clear the designs may have been too adventurous. We are currently experiencing a problem with water ingress from the main arch, poor air circulation through the premises, causing mildew to occur in one area, with an unpleasant smell. To add to the frustration the project manager failed to apply for our Late Night Refreshment Licence, thereby prohibiting us to play music and films or serve hot meals and drinks after 11pm.

‘There is no point in trying to disguise these problems as they are apparent to anyone who has visited the venue. All I can do is apologise for the lack of technical support we have received and thus a temporary failure to deliver a first class venue as promised.’

As a result the Basement Complex has instructed contractors to install a new air conditioning unit along with a new spa system and their application for the Late Night Refreshment Licence has received no objections from Leeds City Council.

Hudson went on to say: ‘We made a promise to the Leeds gay scene that we would give them a first class venue and we stand by that. Internal work will take a few weeks to complete and we are not taking the current problems lightly fighting our corner all the way to demonstrate commitment to the project. For this reason we are offering a blanket entry charge of £5.00 until all facilities are running properly.

‘Too radical? Never! Gay men should expect more.’