Darlington Borough Council has agreed that £600,000 from the sale of the now closed Darlington Arts Centre will be devoted to a new youth theatre project proposed for the town.
Theatre Hullabaloo, the children's theatre company based in the town and which was formerly housed in the Arts Centre, is to make a bid to Arts Council England to build a small "flagship" children's theatre venue which would also be available for other arts activities and the wider community, and this week the Council's Cabinet agreed to support the proposal from proceeds from the building's sale.
The total cost of the project would be in the region of £1.5m but the council warned that it would be unable to support it beyond the £600,000 which it has ring-fenced.
The new building would be on land adjacent to the Civic Theatre which was also threatened with closure last year and which the council hopes will be taken over as a going concern.
No decision from ACE is expected until July 2014.
The Arts Centre was built in 1876 by the British and Foreign School Society and became Darlington Teacher Training College until it was converted to the Arts Centre in 1982.
Theatre Hullabaloo, the only ACE National Portfolio Organisation in Darlington, still has its offices in the town but has been without its own rehearsal and workshop space since the Centre's closure in 2012.
Formerly the Cleveland Theatre Company (CTC), it produces work for young audiences of all ages and has been the organiser of the annual Takeoff Festival of Theatre for Children and Young People since 1997.
The Festival showcases and helps develop theatre for young audiences both in the UK and abroad with performances, discussions and workshops.