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Dateline: 21st January, 2009
Lincoln Theatre Royal Saved Lincoln's main theatre which was facing closure after losing its local authority grant has been saved - although nine workers are losing their jobs and over the next year the venue won't open as frequently. Theatre Royal boss Chris Moreno, who has run the venue for the past 34 years, is paying to keep the theatre open for at least the next year because he doesn't want to see it boarded up. The venue considered shutting down after the city council withdrew its £180,000 grant last autumn when it had to make savings to its budget. There was plenty of interest from people who wanted to keep the theatre open - but Moreno decided they didn't have the necessary expertise. "We've spent the last three months sorting out ways to keep the theatre open for another year. We were always open between 40 and 45 weeks a year. I know this will go down to 15 to 18 weeks a year," said Moreno. "We will no longer be able to do opera and ballet - they're the expensive things that take a lot of money to do. The good side is we will be bringing other things into the theatre that will help boost finance to keep it open. "We intend to grow our theatre school which will be based here. That means there will be a lot of times when the theatre is not available. "I'm going to underwrite it for the first year. We'll be hiring the theatre out a lot more than we ever did." The Grade II listed building is owned by the city council but is run by an independent board. It originally announced the Theatre Royal would close at the end of March. Steve Orme
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