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Stephanie Smith, Paul Smith, Nicholas Roberts and Tom Sleeman. |
Last order for squatters
ARTISTS squatting an historic Soho pub found themselves out in the cold when the building’s billionaire owner decided to reclaim his property.
The As Da! art collective, who squat buildings for the purpose of turning them into galleries and art spaces, were evicted from The Lyric pub in Great Windmill Street on Tuesday morning.
The group, whose previous squat in Tottenham Court Road was featured in the West End Extra last month, had plans to turn the former freehouse into a music and arts venue holding film nights, secret gigs, piano sing-a-longs and mystery events.
But the Lyric’s landlord, Soho Estates, owned by Soho property magnate Paul Raymond, h re-entered the building at 9.30am on Tuesday.
Stephanie Smith, one of the artists at the squat, said: “I pleaded with them for more time. I promised to look after their building, but they were unmoved.”
Director of Soho Estates, John James, defended their action. He said: “These people were breaking and entering. They broke into our property and we peacefully re-entered it. We are a responsible property company. We do not bully or harass people.”
Sitting amongst their possessions in the street, the As Da! squatters were defiant despite having lost both their squats within a week.
Ms Smith said: “It’s frustrating and disorientating, but we were not going to get demoralised.
“We plan to ask the council about the Soho Action Plan next. Hopefully we can get in talks with a landlord about them lending us a building because people really do appreciate what we do.”
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