Oswestry's Ironworks venue is withdrawn from sale
The future of a county town's main music venue has taken a twist after its planned auction was called off.
Steve and Roslynn Gore, owners of the under-threat Ironworks, in Oswestry, were told by their bank that they would have to sell the venue this Thursday.
But the couple have now withdrawn the Church Street venue from sale – although they say it is not yet out of the woods.
The decision follows a campaign to raise £140,000 to create a Community Interest Company, through which the Ironworks would be owned by its users.
Mr Gore said: "The fundraising has gone incredibly well and the goodwill from the general public has been incredible. It's just remarkable how much interest there's been across the town. We've had more support than we could ever have hoped for.
"We are not out of the woods quite yet but we're always looking at things optimistically."
The venue held the final of its annual acoustic competition last night, attracting entrants from as far afield as Cardiff, and is set for another busy evening tonight as it hosts a charity gig. We said earlier in the week that this weekend would either be our last or the first of many more at what will hopefully soon be a new and improved Community Interest Ironworks Oswestry," Mr Gore said.
"Things look extremely promising that we will be able to stay open past Thursday. We're expecting that Friday 13th, instead of being the day after the Ironworks closed, will be a good day for us."
The Save The Ironworks campaign was launched at the start of August and has included a fundraising weekend of live music and a Buy a Brick campaign.
Supporters can sponsor a brick of the upstairs performance space for £20 each, becoming part of the Community Interest Company.
Despite the threat of closure, the venue still has live music acts lined up to perform after Thursday, with The Dutch Rudders due to play on Saturday and Led Zeppelin tribute Fred Zeppelin scheduled for the following Saturday.
