The Common Place is dead, long live Wharf Chambers.  Out of the ashes of the Common Place a new workers collective has been set up and on Friday there was a fundraiser for the vegan/vegitarian cafe that will run out of the building.  With regular opening still a few weeks away Friday was a chance to see some of the hard work that has been put into the space. 

The Common Place tried to be many things and some worked better than others but the building did work well as a gig veneu for the diy music scence in Leeds and beyond.  Wharf Chambers is trying a different model so instead of vounteers working till 3am with a free drink in return the workers co-op hopes that paying the workers will allow them to put more time into promotion and organising the space.  The focus of the space is much smaller as one complaint leveled at the Common Place was that it tried to be all things but satisfied few people.  On friday the achivements of the new workers co-op have made since May were on show. Where there were walls there are now windows, gone was the rubbish and junk replaced with a new toilet block.  The space felt cleaner and lighter and different.

The fundraiser was a great sucess with nearly £300 raised for the cafe.  The collective hopes the space will be open mid-October with the cafe open from morning till the bar opens, exact times still undecided.  There are many things for the co-op to still sort but it seems Leeds has the energy to support a project like Wharf Chambers.