Phone +44 131 662 6892 | ||
Address 117 Nicolson St, Edinburgh EH8 9ER, UK Similar C Venues, Assembly Rooms, Zoo, Pleasance Courtyard, Traverse Theatre | ||
One southside community centre
Southside Community Centre (formerly Nicolson Street Church, and known as Zoo Southside when used as a venue at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe) is a Grade B listed building in Edinburgh, Scotland, situated on Nicolson Street in the south of the city.
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The church was built by James Gillespie Graham in 1820, on the site of an Anti-Burgher meeting house, at a cost of £6,000. Fire destroyed much of the building in 1932, and the body of the church was demolished. Gillespie Graham's Perpendicular Gothic elevation remains, while the rear was rebuilt by J.R. MacKay.
By the 1980s, it was no longer needed as a church. A steering committee was put in place by a community group, the South Side Association, to convert it into a community centre. In December 1986, it was opened for this purpose by George Foulkes MP.
In August each year, the building becomes venue 82 of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, operated by the company Zoo Venues. As a venue it offers a café, two multi-purpose function rooms and a large hall. Zoo divide the building into three performance spaces - the Main House (200 seats, with one of the largest stages at the Fringe), the Studio (65 seats) and the Cabaret Bar (60 seats).