Gweru City Council has issued a notice to shut down Midlands Music Academy in a development that will deal a major blow to the arts sector in the province.
By Sandra Maricho in Gweru
Midlands Music Academy is one of the institutions of arts in the province, which was offering music courses and tutorials, among other arts training programmes.
Students of music and musicology from the Midlands State University also frequented the place, which they used as a resource centre.
In a letter directed to the organisation and a copy seen by The Standard Style, Gweru chamber secretary Vakai Douglas Chikwekwe said the city needed to expand, hence the decision to shut down the academy and other buildings in the area.
“I wish to advise that council is in the process of preparing the CBD [central business district] expansion layout plan covering the area you are currently occupying. You are, therefore, ordered to vacate the premises within six months,” read part of the letter.
The Standard Style also established that council had ordered the closure of Gweru Sports and Recreation Club, which houses the Bowling Club, an entertainment hub in the city famed for hosting parties and music shows.
A graduate of the Midlands Music Academy, Linda Mpepe lamented the closure of the academy saying it was nurturing and exposing artistic talents of youths.
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“It’s sad indeed, the academy should have been spared because in itself it is a historic centre,” she said.
