After discovering that it was up for sale, fans of The New Pavilion Building in Morley, England put together a petition in an effort to rescue it. The petition requests that local officials designate the building a place of interest and the next owner commits to preserving its legacy.
While the building has taken on many forms over the years, for over a decade it was used for a nightclub called Afterdark. Many remember the Afterdark as the home of the fan-favorite The Orbit-branded techno events. In the petition, organizers compared demolition of the building to erasing an important piece of the country’s musical history.
“We feel the building deserves to be saved from demolition and this petition has been created as a last-minute attempt to try and raise awareness of its importance in U.K. cultural and musical history,” reads a passage. “What happened here was once the U.K.’s answer to the world famous Tresor club in Berlin and it cannot be overlooked that demolishing this building would essentially be like demolishing the ‘Graceland’ of ’90s electronic dance music.”
The building currently has permission from the local government to be converted into fourteen apartments, as per the official auction page for the property. It’s been reported by the Yorkshire Evening Post that this has since lapsed and that the building is at risk of being demolished.
At the time of writing, the petition has nearly 760 signatures with a goal set at 1,000. Those interested can find more information on the petition and sign it themselves here.