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Hard Rock Cafe Suffers Melancholy End

DUBAI—The distinctive crossed guitars of the Hard Rock Cafe in Dubai was once an icon for a generation of Western expats.

But now the bar sits behind a corrugated iron fence, its windows smashed and dance floor littered with torn newspapers.

The building, which over 11,000 people joined a Facebook group to save, is expected to be demolished, but no date has been set.

The new owner announced on Wednesday that the skyscraper project that will replace it has been shelved.

For fans of the 11-year-old Hard Rock Cafe, the news shows a slight hope that the bar could one day be resurrected.

“It should never have been closed,” said Sacha Narinx, a South African expat who started the Facebook petition to save the cafe.

“Whatever was going to be built should have been built around it. It’s an icon in Dubai,” he said.

The Hard Rock Cafe, near Media City, first opened in December 1997 and was one of the first bars to open in the emirate. Before areas such as the Marina were built, the building was known to demarcate the “end” of Dubai.

“Ten years ago there was nothing in the area,” said Narinx. “You had to drive for miles to reach the bar.

“For the residents living in Dubai it was a milestone to tell you that you were halfway to Abu Dhabi.

“Because of memories like that, it should be saved. There’s no heritage in Dubai, and this is an important part of it.” The license of the bar was lost last April after the adjacent Palm Hotel was closed down. The Hard Rock Cafe remained open for a year with a dwindling clientele before finally closing in
March 2009.

“I used to go there with my family almost every week,” said Charlotte Simmons, a British expat who has been in Dubai for the last three years. “The atmosphere there was amazing and the staff had a great sense of humour.

“But after they lost the license, gradually people stopped going. It wasn’t the same after that,” she said.

A sign on the front door of the bar on Tuesday said that the venue had closed, but would reopen at another location soon. Inside the building, graffiti artists have plastered the walls in crude tags and on the floor, broken glass mingled with a layer of dust.

The building, which was sold to Tameer, is scheduled for demolition and will be replaced by two towers.

“Tameer owns the land and the building but is not planning to demolish it right now,” said a spokesman
for Tameer.

“A state-of-the-art project was conceptualised and designed for this most strategic and prime location. Due to the world economic crisis, the project is on hold for the time being.”

No details were available on the replacement project.

Former manager of the Hard Rock Cafe in Dubai, Michel Samha, said that the bar would be moving to new
premises soon.

“We are waiting to hear from the corporate managers to find a new location,” he said.

Hard Rock International, the parent group, announced in 2007 that it would build a five-star hotel within the Dubai Trade Centre District.

The Hard Rock Hotel Dubai, which is being constructed in cooperation with the Tasameem Group, is expected to be completed in 2012.

martin@khaleejtimes.com

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