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Evening Standard The Foundry Foundry in Shoreditch to make way for hotel by Miranda Bryant 04.02.10

One of London's most popular alternative arts venues and home to a large Banksy mural is to be demolished after more than a decade. The Foundry in Shoreditch is to close within months to make way for an 18-storey hotel. The gallery and pub - frequented by artists and musicians such as Gavin Turk and Pete Doherty -- is on rented land owned by Art'otel. Hackney council last night approved plans to pull down the building but said a decision had not yet been reached on whether the Banksy mural would be saved. One of the Foundry's founders, Tracey Moberly, said today: "We weren't given any support or acknowledgement by the council for what we put into the area and what's grown up around it. "It's going to be a huge loss because there's no other space like it." Reader Views I totally agree with Deborah. The Foundry, and other bars and pubs like this, are what make east london such a special and varied place. What with launching the careers of bands like the Libertines and Hot Chip, it should be a protected building(plus it looks pretty cool!). Philip and Jonathan, you are a bunch of old gits who only care about expensive hotels and care nothing about the fantastic underground music scene that originated here. Hackney council, please change your mind! - James, Maidstone, Kent How mad, but how typical of our corporate obsessed politicos (local or nationa), The Foundry is part of what makes Shoreditch so edgy and special, part of what makes people want to come and stay in the Area. In short if it wasn't for The Foundry and other such venues and outlets, nobody would want to stay in a Shoreditch hotel in the first place. These Hoteliers are are cooking the geese that lay the golden eggs, but what would the Hackney councillors care, no doubt it's all about gravy trains for them as they worm there way towards the bigger gravy train at Westminster - Deborah, London