ISLANDERS have called for Fort Regent to be returned to its former glory as the concert venue which once attracted world-famous artists.
Event organisers have said that a space which seats over 1,000 people would also attract tourism back to the Island and that ‘we have a duty’ to reinvent the ‘crown jewel in Jersey’s arsenal’.
This comes as the government winds down its vaccination programme, which has been stationed at the Fort since mid-2020, with a trickle of Islanders now passing through the doors of the cavernous centre.
There are no further plans to develop the site, after the government shelved proposals this year which featured a multi-purpose venue for conferences, sporting events and concerts, alongside a hotel, cinema, tenpin bowling alley and casino.
Chris Tanguy, a DJ and former bar owner, said: ‘The night-time economy now is on its knees, and I don’t see it getting any better. I remember the great time, where there were 27,500 beds for tourists here. Now there are 7,500.’
He said that when he attended a Meat Loaf concert in 1985 at the Fort, it was the ‘loudest event I think I’ve ever heard’.
He added: ‘The Fort should have been put out to private enterprise some time ago, but it’s too late for that now. It shouldn’t have gone to the States, but there should have been private investment, for someone to do something with, but it’s the cost.’
Adam Flynn, a theatre producer and director now based in Jersey, said he had been ‘trying to organise putting a few professional shows into the main hall at Fort Regent for months, but it seems to have fallen on deaf ears’.
‘As far as I can tell, there is a fully functioning 1,000-plus-seat venue sitting there empty, which could be put to good use, especially with the Opera House offline.’
Events organiser Lyle de la Cloche added that he was one of the last to attempt to put on an event in the Fort, before his drum and bass party Blkout had to move location in 2019.
‘We got turfed out last minute because there were asbestos issues with their fire exits, which left us high and dry,’ he said.
‘That, really, was the beginning of the decline at the Fort.’
Mr de la Cloche added: ‘Big acts would come to Jersey, if it was set up properly for them. At the moment, we won’t get big stand-up comedians or big bands with nowhere that can host more than 1,000 people. That really limits you and you’re not going to bring a big act over here to perform in a space that doesn’t sit more than 800.’
He remained hopeful about the Fort’s future, saying: ‘I do think it can get there again. Some of the plans that came out early on did improve the events space, because it definitely needs updating. It will take a lot of people to come together to do it, but it has to happen because it’s a crown jewel in Jersey’s arsenal. It’s underused and we could turn it into a cultural hub again.’
‘We have a duty to do that for the Island, because we are missing that. Events organisers want a space like that.’
Infrastructure Minister Tom Binet responded that ‘no plans have been put on hold, because there haven’t been any plans. There have been a hundred reports made on Fort Regent, none of which have produced anything viable.
‘The Future Places Ministerial Group have decided to get the Jersey Development Company to look at the Fort again, and the full report should be coming out later this year.
‘Once that condition report comes out, that will help to define what best to do with it.
‘We’ve got to look at every possibility, but it depends what we want to see done up there.
‘It’s quite a valuable site, and one of the most important fortifications in Europe.’
Deputy Binet added: ‘It would be nice for the Island to have a concert venue. Whether that’s the right place for it in this day and age or not, I’m not entirely sure. Safety requirements have been more demanding than they were, so I’m not sure it is.’
‘I have seen some fantastic concerts there,’ he said, including The Stranglers, Tom Jones and Meat Loaf.’
