Caesars nightclub memorabilia for sale as London's first purpose-built ballroom prepares for demolition (From Your Local Guardian)

Caesars nightclub memorabilia for sale as London's first purpose-built ballroom prepares for demolition

7:30am Thursday 26th August 2010 in

• Skip social links
• Print
• Email
• Comments(0)

For sale: one Roman chariot, four horses, featured in a Spice Girls video – price on application. Preferred buyer local to area.

Love it or hate it, the giant statue rising over Streatham High Road from Caesars nightclub is one of the defining images for those passing through Streatham.

And a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity has arisen to purchase it, as club owner Fred Batt strips the club of its contents, ahead of it being passed over to developers in three weeks.

Mr Batt said: “If no one buys the statue it will have to go in my back garden, but I’m hoping someone locally will buy it, to keep it in Streatham as part of the club’s history.”

To give a little inspiration to potential buyers, the Streatham Guardian has taken the time to imagine what it could be like displayed on another local landmark –Streatham Ice Arena.

But for those who are not interested in the chariot and horses, Mr Batt is also selling the rest of the club’s contents, with everything from a stuffed Siberian tiger to tables and chairs going under the hammer.

Mr Batt said: “It’s sad to finally be going, it’s the end of an era.”

Developers have bought the club and have permission to knock it down to build a 243-flat residential and shopping development.

The club was built in the 1920s as the UK’s first purpose-built ballroom.

It was one of the premiere south London nightspots of the time, with Glenn Miller, Audrey Hepburn and Charlie Chaplin among the top names to grace its stage.

It later became the Cat’s Whiskers club, with a revolving stage.

Mr Batt took it over in 1994, it then became home to events by Lap Attack – London’s first lap dancing club for women – and a boxing venue, where Brad Pitt was filmed in Guy Ritchie’s movie Snatch.

Mr Batt blamed the loosening of licensing laws on the failure of the club, as drinkers could stay in bars rather than move on to clubs.