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One of Edinburgh’s most important arts venues is up for sale

Locals are hoping that Fringe venue Summerhall won’t be turned into flats or offices

Annie McNamee
Written by
Annie McNamee
Contributor, Time Out London and UK
Summerhall, Edinburgh
Photograph: CPClegg / Wikimedia
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From the annual Fringe to the four-and-a-half century old university, Edinburgh is a city steeped in culture and heritage. And now a slice of that heritage could be yours in the form of Summerhall, an iconic arts venue in the city’s Southside which went on sale yesterday (May 14). 

The building, which was initially home to the University of Edinburgh’s veterinary school, became an arts venue 13 years ago. Since then, it’s been used for a variety of events including weddings, university formals, music lessons, and perhaps most famously as a venue for the Edinburgh Fringe. This week, its owners announced that they are intending to sell up, and the news has not been received with much positivity. 

Cuthbert White, the consultants in charge of the sale have described the property as available for ‘extensive mixed use re-development and refurbishment options including residential, galleries and entertainment spaces, boutique hotels, offices, studios, and student housing’. Basically, anything could happen. 

Locals are hoping that whoever buys Summerhall will honour its cultural significance. A Change.org petition was created yesterday opposing ‘any plans to convert Summerhall into apartments or student flats’ for fears that a residential conversion would ‘strip away a crucial cultural asset, [and] also diminish the unique character of our community’. That petition wants the current owners to consider alternatives to selling to property developers, ‘whether through community ownership, partnerships with cultural organisations, or other innovative approaches’.

It’s not just nearby residents who are invested in what becomes of the iconic building. Edinburgh MP Tommy Sheppard said that ‘the council must do everything it can to ensure it doesn’t simply become more student housing or another hotel’, and MSP Lorna Slater expressed her ‘hope that whatever its future, it can continue to function as a community space for art and creative expression’.

Deals like this take time, so it could be a little while before we know the fate of Summerhall. It will definitely still act as 2024 Fringe venue, but its future beyond that is murky. Here’s hoping that developers are as sick of luxury flats as the rest of us. 

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