AN OLD warehouse is being transformed into a cafe and arts centre before being demolished.

The group of music-lovers behind Oxfordshire’s annual Truck Festival, are turning the Old Book Binders, formerly known as the Green Street Bindery, off Cowley Road, East Oxford, into a cultural hub – despite the fact the building is set to be pulled down on March 31, and the site used for flats.

The Truck team, who also run the county’s Wood and OX4 festivals and today’s Equitruck festival at the O2 Academy, are planning to give the building a good send-off by turning it into what they call a “pop-up cafe”.

It follows a successful trial there in October.

Truck founder Robin Bennett said: “Having had the cafe open for one weekend in October, we knew we would have to open it again.

“With the news that the building was being knocked down at the end of March, we realised we had to do it now.”

He said the site could be used for fashion fairs, talks, concerts and art installations, before the bulldozers move in.

He said: “I've always wanted Truck to have some kind of cafe or bar, so we can create a place to hang out all year round, not just for a weekend at our festivals. And now we have; for a while anyway.”

Co-organiser Drew Brammer said: “Robin and I got the idea for the cafe when we visited warehouse cafes in New York.

“Everybody is welcome to hang out on the sofas, bring their kids and have a coffee.”

He said of the demolition: “It is definitely a sign of the times in East Oxford, where the priority seems to be building houses, rather than a community.”

The Truck Stop Cafe will open on Friday and and every subsequent Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 10am until 4pm, until March 31.

Kitchen equipment has been donated by Oxford Event Hire.

For details visit theoldbookbinders.org.

Drew Brammer talks about Oxford’s coolest new venue in The Guide, in Thursday’s Oxford Mail.

Events being held at the cafe include: January 28: Baltic Gypsy Night, 8pm February 4: OX4 Hoe Down, 7.30pm February 7: Heavenly Records Presents: Sea of Bees, 7.30pm February 11-12: Blessing Force Takeover, 6pm February 15-16: The Playhouse Plays Out, 8pm February 19: Judy’s Affordable Vintage Fashion Fair, 12noon-5pm March 6-24: Insight Sharing Festival