Legendary Bath nightclub Moles has confirmed it will have to stay closed until at least August after a fire caused by an electrical fault over the weekend.
Co-owner Phil Andrews said they were in the "horrendous" situation of shutting the doors for the next five months so the George Street building could be completely rewired and redecorated.
Clubbers who had tickets for booked gigs and events will get their money back and concerts will be rescheduled where possible.
And Mr Andrews said the team were determined to see the live music venue, which in the past has hosted bands such as Oasis and Radiohead, come back stronger than ever.
Fire crews were called to Moles just before 9am on Saturday morning after a blaze broke out on the ground floor, close to the front door.
George Street remained closed for a number of hours while five fire engines and one turntable ladder vehicle attended the incident.
The serious damage has been contained to the ground floor, but the entire building has suffered smoke and water damage.
Mr Andrews said: "We are having to stay closed for longer than we had hoped, so I think we aren't too far off the mark when we say August. We are aiming to reopen at the beginning of August.
"It is a complete rewire job and then a lot of redecorating and it is not really possible to do all of that any quicker."
He added that they would be interested in Moles continuing to run from another venue, if there was one available, but would not be moving the gigs to other clubs.
Initial investigations have determined that the cause of the fire was accidental and that the blame lay with an electrical fault in the wiring.
Mr Andrews said as far as he was concerned the fault was outside of the building, in wiring which came under the responsibility of Western Power Distribution.
A spokeswoman for the power firm said she could not comment until a full investigation had taken place.
Moles' landlord is the Halcyon Group, which also runs The Porter and Circo bar and is owned by Giles Thomas.
A statement from the firm said they were looking into the cause of the fire and were committed to helping the nightclub reopen as soon as possible.
It said: "We are deeply saddened by the closure of Moles due to the fire last weekend.
"Our first thoughts were concerns for the safety of any staff within the building but it was quickly assessed by the fire crews that the building was empty.
"Although it would appear that it was caused by an electrical fault, we are working closing with our forensic investigation team to ascertain the exact cause but at this early stage it would be guesswork to give an accurate cause.
"As the landlord we will be working closely with the tenants – Moles Music Venue has a wonderful long history of putting on the best live music acts in Bath and we are determined to see them reopen their doors as soon as possible."
Mr Andrews, who also owns the Chapel Arts Centre and is co-director of the Jane Austen Centre, has owned Moles since the late 1970s.
He sold it in 2009, but took it back on again in September 2012, in partnership with long-term promoter and DJ Tom Maddicott.
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