Leicester City Centre designated Leicester's new cultural quarter, and is already the site of the Leicester Creative Business Depot(built on the old Leicester City Bus depot and keeping the initials) and the Athena. The LCB Depot opened in July 2004, and by the time of its first birthday had let 37 of 55 units, with talk starting of finding an additional site. Opposite the Athena, a new flagship £60 million Curve Theatre, Leicester, designed by Rafael Vinoly Architects, started construction in 2005, on a site that has been long-disused. It is planned to be ready for handover 2007 to the Haymarket company, who
Music in Leicester Music in Leicester Music in Leicester, England, has had a varied history. While Leicester has often been neglected as a centre for popular music , with the new O2 Academy that has recently been built (opened 2010) in the city, more established acts have been booked to play. Current venues for music include: De Montfort Hall, which has a standing capacity of 1602 and seating capacity of 2000, The Musician, Crafton Street West, Leicester, (220 capacity) (opened 2000) and The Donkey, 203 Welford Rd, Leicester (opened 2005) as well as Firebug, Pocklington's Walk, Leicester and The Shed, Yeoman Street, Leicester.