The Theater Trust has removed three venues from its Theaters at Risk Register for 2023, including Walthamstow Granada.
The charity and the UK’s public advisory body on theaters have released their annual report, which has identified 38 theaters from across the UK as being at risk.
The Theaters Trust has said that east London’s Walthamstow Granada – soon to reopen as Soho Theater Walthamstow – along with the Century Theater in Coalville, Leicestershire, and the Palace Theater in Swansea are no longer considered at risk due to advocacy, viability planning and advice. from the Trust and the support of their respective local authorities, theater operators and community groups.
Gary Kemp, Theaters Trust board member and Spandau Ballet star, said: “It’s great to see a landmark theater removed from the Theaters at Risk list, as a result of campaigning and advice from Theaters Trust as well as the commitment of councils and communities local. .
“The Theaters at Risk list is about making the best use of buildings within their communities, so they can be enjoyed for many years to come, and these three theaters are great examples of that .”
After being at risk of redevelopment and being added to the program in 2014, the former Century Theater traveling theater has now been removed and is now secure in its permanent Coalville home and well integrated into the local area and serving the community with improved facilities.
Elsewhere, the vacant and deteriorating Grade-II listed Walthamstow Granada is no longer considered at risk after it was bought and renovated by Waltham Forest Council, with Soho Theater as the operator.
The theater is due to reopen later in the year with its new identity as Soho Theater Walthamstow.
Having been a fixture of the program since its inception in 2006, Swansea’s Palace Theater will no longer feature, as the distinctive Victorian music hall is to reopen as an office with small-scale performance and event space, following get help. from a Swansea Council scheme.
Despite the three venues being delisted, the Dudley Hippodrome and the Intimate Theater in Enfield, north London have been highlighted by the Theaters Trust as being at risk and redevelopment plans, leading to their demolition, are looking certain to go ahead, despite the fact that the Trust and the local communities are strongly against it.
Dudley Hippodrome, the only remaining lyric theater in the West Midlands town, is on a site approved for a new university centre, while the Intimate Theatre, where a number of stars including David Bowie have performed, has redevelopment to build a new centre. parish hall and residential accommodation.
Despite the Trust’s concerns, no additional theaters have been added to the Risk Register for 2023.
Theaters Trust director Jon Morgan said: “As the real impact of rising building and energy costs, the cost of living crisis and pressure on council budgets becomes real, the challenge of securing the future of theaters at risk will be more difficult than ever. ever and yes. real fear that more operational theaters could be ‘at risk’.
“However, despite the difficulties, local support and collaborative work still pays off and the opportunities these buildings offer their communities are fantastic.”
The Trust also noted that despite remaining on the list, Spilsby Sessions House in Spilsby, Lincolnshire, Morecambe Winter Gardens in Lancashire, Burnley Empire in Lancashire, Leith Theater in Scotland and Theater Royal Margate have made significant progress in Kent.