The Square, Harlow

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Please improve this article if you can. (June 2007)

The Square is a music venue in Harlow, Essex. The Square is funded by Essex County Council and is managed by Essex Youth Service.

As well as being a nationally recognized music venue, The Square also runs a series of performance and technical based courses for young people, opening the world of music to them in a way almost unparalleled anywhere else in the country.

The venue also includes a small recording studio for bands to record at quite a cheap price.

The entrance fee on Friday and Saturday nights is usually 6 pounds.

As of July 2008, SquareOne Entertainment LLP (formed by a group of former employees of The Square) will take over the building, running a 4 day evening entertainment programme, with fully liscenced bars. This has come as a relief to many locals who battled against Essex County Council's decision to remove the sale of alcohol from the venue. The Square's Rock School now has an uncertain future as Essex County Council are refusing for it to stay housed at The Square following their departure in June 2008.

[edit] Controversy

There is currently a battle between local residents and the Essex County Council to stop policy changes to prevent over 19s playing at or visiting the Square, and remove the bar. The bar was removed on April the 8th, 2007, while at the same time another policy came into effect (of not carrying out youth work with young people under the influence of drugs), and the other changes are due to come into effect 6 months afterwards (presumably October 8th, although Essex County Council have only referred to "six months from now").