The magical place in Manchester where the Hacienda should really have been, revealed by founder Alan Erasmus
For Factory Records co-founder Alan Erasmus, looking back on the opening of the Hacienda 40 years on is somewhat "bittersweet". Last weekend marked the landmark anniversary of the club, which would go on to "change Manchester and the world" after first opening its doors on May 21, 1982.
It has been a time of reflection and celebration for many - with an anniversary party held back at the original site, now an apartment block, last Saturday night. Meanwhile a new BBC documentary is also being prepared to tell the unique story of how the club came to be built, and it's unique legacy in the cultural world.
But it could all have been so different, explains Alan. He, together with Factory Records' Tony Wilson, Rob Gretton, Martin Hannett and Peter Saville, would have lengthy discussions about the nightclub plans, first mooted back in the early 1980s.
Read more : Hacienda at 40: the highs, the lows, the £6m losses - as told by key figures in the club's history
At that time, Alan had already been running the Russell Club in Hulme, and could somewhat foresee the problems that lay ahead in opening a club of the size and ambition that the Factory founders envisioned. Indeed, he says that he, along with record producer Martin, both voted against the idea.
But, with Factory being based on democratic principles the majority vote was carried - and the rest is history. However, from the earliest stages of the plan in the early 1980s, costs began to spiral.
Remembering the initial vote on the idea, Alan recalls: "Me and Martin voted against it, I recall it was all Rob's idea, and he said it would be an investment of £50,000. Then £650,000 later you know we had a club.
"Me and Martin didn't want to do it for different reasons -
Read more on manchestereveningnews.co.uk
