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A nightclub devastated by fire last week is planning to reopen tonight. (Friday July 23)
Staff at Mu Mu in Maidstone said they had been working "24 hours a day" to reopen after flames gutted the premises at 110 Week Street.
Incredibly, they have been able to salvage rooms not affected by the blaze next door at 108 Week Street and plan to reopen under the banner Dancing Is (Finally!) Back.
A post on the club's Facebook page tonight announced the planned reopening.
Fans of the club's cabarets will be disappointed to learn that they won't be returning for a while but there will be plenty of other attractions including the Mu Mu cocktail lounge with R&B DJ Ben Turner, a new Hoochie Coochie Lounge with drag queen Madame Mu Mu and the Laundry Room Prohibition Cocktail Bar.
There will be no booking required. Clubbers can just turn up. The club is licensed to 4am.
Nellie Gerkins Irish pub is also back open.
A spokesman said: "Staff have been working 24 hours a day to get 108 ready."
Fire broke out at around 2.30am on Wednesday, July 14, and gutted the premises. Shocking drone footage showed the extent of the damage.
At its height, 15 fire engines and an estimated 60 firefighters were at the scene.
The venue has been owned by Ciaran O'Quigley for 29 years and comprised FiFi's Brasserie, cocktail lounge the Laundry Room, cabaret club Mu Mu and Irish pub Nellie Gerkins.
The fire came less than a week before social distancing rules were scrapped in England to allow nightclubs to reopen.
Mr O'Quigley's daughter Sineal said after the blaze: "The devastation this has caused our family is beyond words that we can fathom at this time. We have had the toughest of 18 months and were just one week away from the first grasps at normality.
"As a family, we are attempting to digest this horrific tragedy and we ask all customers to bear with us. We have no offices, no computers, no equipment, no phone lines, no access to our venue at all. These have all been taken as a result of this atrocious fire.
"At present, our venue remains closed and we as a family attempt to digest this tragedy which has ripped through our lives and our business. Whilst we are unable to access your emails at this time, we are already overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and support.
"We will be back. That much is certain."
