Arts plans a winner with £7.1m jackpot plans

EXTERIOR . . . The old library building

OLDHAM'S Cultural Quarter is another step closer to becoming a reality.

The council was able to get funding packages for its new Arts and Heritage Centre and the new Coliseum Theatre which are going to link up with Gallery Oldham and the library to make a Cultural Quarter in Greaves Street.

The application was brought forward before the planning committee in order to get listed building consent for adaptation and re-use of former library and gallery and to approve the general proposals. The committee voted unanimously in favour of it.

The project was given the green light after a successful joint funding bid by Oldham Council and Oldham Coliseum Theatre secured a £7.1 million National Lottery-funded capital grant from Arts Council England towards the project.

Subject to planning approval, construction work is anticipated to start in April, 2018, with the venue set to open in 2020. The plans are part of an approach approved in September 2015 which commits the council and its partners to a phased delivery over 10 years of a four-stage Cultural Regeneration Programme.

The first stage is a heritage and arts centre in the old library building followed by the conversion and commercial development of the Local Studies and old Museum buildings for new uses, the new theatre and work to address the future of other heritage buildings on Union Street. The wider Cultural Regeneration Programme is funded by public and private sector sources including Arts Council England, the Heritage Lottery Fund, the Stoller Charitable Trust, and Oldham Council.

In the heritage centre, there would be an informal meeting area, retail space cafe and restaurant, a 120-seat lecture/theatre space, a first-floor art and heritage gallery space and second-floor local studies centre.

Oldham Council and theatre staff have been working on a redesign with Mecanoo, the project architect. Alex Pritchett, from Mecanoo, said: "This is a great opportunity for Oldham to provide employment both during the construction and when in operation."

Councillor Steve Bashforth added: "This is really important for the town centre. Hopefully it will take a building from the 1880s into the 2080s."