 |
|
|
|||
|
News
|
|||
|
News
|
Dateline: 24th July, 2011
Dumfries Theatre Saved The long running saga of the Theatre Royal in Dumfries may be coming to an end with an agreement in priciple from a charitable trust, the Holywood Trust, to make a "substantial contribution" to the costs of repair to the building which was built in 1792. The saga began in May 2004 when the Guild of Players, which owns the theatre, announced that it needed a £2.5m grant from Dumfries and Galloway Council to release a National Lottery grant of £1.7m and approach the European Regional Development Fund to raise, in total, £5.3m for a virtual rebuilt of the crumbling theatre and to comply with the Disability Discrimation Act. That grant was agreed in July of that year. However a year later the council's planning department rejected the plans, saying that they would "over-develop" the site. As a result the plans had to be changed and the Guild, an amateur group, approached the council for a grant off £1.3m for the additional costs which had been incurred. The council's corporate policy committee refused the application in January 2006 and decided to withdraw the £2.4m already promised, which, the Guild said, effectively "destroyed the project". In February of that year the minority coalition which led the council failed to get its budget proposals through the full council and resigned, then in December 2010 the council refused to support a £315,000 funding package for repairs, again leading to fears that the building could have to close. Now the Holywood Trust grant means that the repairs will be able to go ahead and the theatre will remain open. The Guild is now consulting its members and other interested parties about what they would like including in the refurbishment.
Please note that all three Archive indices are very long and will therefore take some time to download.
|
||
|
|
