FAC51 The Haçienda

The hacienda that had to be built

"The Hacienda must be built". Ivan Chtcheglov's situationist motto, taken from Formulary for a New Urbanism, gave its name to the venue that Factory Records numbered as FAC 51. The cedilla in Haçienda was no whim: it turned the "çi" into the 51 of the catalogue. Conceived by Rob Gretton and funded by New Order and Tony Wilson, it opened on May 21, 1982, in the former International Yacht Showroom on Whitworth Street West, next to the Rochdale Canal, on the edge of Castlefield.

An industrial cathedral with hazard stripes

Ben Kelly, recommended by Peter Saville, turned the warehouse volume into a hybrid of club and concert hall. Steel columns painted with hazard stripes, bollards, and cat's eyes delineated a 136 m² raised dance floor; at the door, a granite plaque announced simply FAC51. Upstairs, a stage, dance floor, restaurant, cloakroom, and a balcony with a DJ booth coexisted. Downstairs, the cocktail bar The Gay Traitor, next to The Kim Philby and Hicks. The official capacity was 1,650 people. The initial dance floor sound system was 2.5K Court, Proflex, and Altec, installed by Martin Disney Associates.

Nude, Hot and the explosion of acid house

The early years mixed gigs—The Smiths, Madonna on The Tube in 1984, Einstürzende Neubauten drilling on stage—with almost empty club nights. In 1986, Nude, with Mike Pickering, placed house music at the center of the British week and filled the venue. In July 1988, Hot, with Pickering and Jon Dasilva, brought acid house from Ibiza and placed Whitworth Street West at the heart of Madchester. Flesh, Freak, and the Saturdays of Graeme Park (1992-1997) turned the club into a place of pilgrimage. 808 State, Happy Mondays, The Stone Roses, or The Chemical Brothers passed through that dance floor; DJs like Hewan Clarke, Greg Wilson, Graeme Park, and Dave Haslam defined its sound. Hacienda FM aired on Kiss 102 between 1994 and 1997.

The price of a revolution

Ecstasy hurt the alcohol sales the business depended on. On July 14, 1989, 16-year-old Clare Leighton died, in the first British death associated with ecstasy in a club. Shootings, debts, and a temporary closure in 1991 marked the decline. In 1995, the basement was converted into The 5th Man. The club lost its entertainment license in June 1997; the final night, Freak, was on June 28. After being used as a gallery and for two illegal raves, Crosby Homes auctioned the interior in 2000 and demolished the building in 2002. Today, the site is occupied by apartments that keep the name. The legacy lives on in archives, exhibitions, and touring nights, but the physical venue no longer exists.