THE SUB Rooms has been placed on the market for £600,000 ahead of the next stage in the year-long process to decide its future.

A final decision on the Stroud District Council-owned arts and entertainment is still up in the air, with three options currently on the table.

To properly explore the third, and currently most unpopular option, of selling the venue on the open market, SDC has put the Sub Rooms up for sale.

Two other options are also being explored, SDC could retain the arts centre or hand it over to a community group.

Nine have officially expressed their interest including Ecotricity, SVA and new community trust supported by Stroud Town Council.

Councillor Doina Cornell, vice-chair of the council’s Strategy and Resources Committee and chair of the group tasked with assessing the options for the Sub Rooms said: "Councils are under increasing financial pressure so we have to ensure we are providing value for money services.

"We are committed to finding the best way to secure the future of the Sub Rooms, and this is one of three options we need to explore.

"No decisions have been made yet, and putting the Sub Rooms on the open market does not mean that we are selling it.

"It’s just one of the options we are investigating."

The Sub Rooms is the only council-owned and run arts and entertainment facility in the district but in 2016 it spent £415,000 on running the venue, leading it to reassess its future.

SDC's preference is that “any solution should not only improve the cost effectiveness for the public but also seek to retain its availability to the public for cultural use.”

The closing date for all bids to either run the Sub Rooms or to buy the venue is Friday, September 15 and the final decision will be made later this year.

Bruton Knowles, a Gloucester-based commercial property agent, will be marketing the building on behalf of the council.

Further information about the Sub Rooms review is available on the council’s website stroud.gov.uk/subroomsreview