Curtain up on new £9m Greenock theatre
27th May 2010
The bid to raise £9 million for a spectacular new Clyde waterfront theatre has been reached after it was given a Big Lottery Fund grant of £378,716. The centre will be in a prime location on the former dockyard site, adjacent to the historic Georgian Customhouse.
There will be a 500-seat main auditorium, a 130-seat studio theatre, rehearsal and conference rooms and a riverside cafe and bar. Work to infill the docks adjacent to the Customhouse is under way as part of a three-month programme of preparation of the site. Building work will start in the next few weeks and the centre is expected to open in early 2012.
Raising the cash has been a massive effort. Inverclyde Council has contributed £2.5m, while the Scottish Arts Council has guaranteed £2.7m. Other cash has come from Greenock Arts Guild and Riverside Inverclyde. Now the money worries are over after Dharmendra Kanani, Big Lottery Fund Scotland Director, announced the £378,000 award.
He said: “The new Inverclyde Arts Centre is a classic example of what happens when people, community and entrepreneurs are put in the driving seat of change.” Greenock Arts Guild will employ in the theatre’s bar and cafe people who have been jobless for a long time due to mental health issues.
Elliott McKelvie, the guild’s chairman, said: “We are delighted the Big Lottery Fund has recognised our project as delivering real benefit to the community of Inverclyde. “The award will let us launch an ambitious programme of engagement with people who may not have had previous involvement in arts activity. We expect the funding will bring real benefit to them and the wider community. The old theatre in the town’s west end has been there for 60 years. We are moving to the middle of Greenock, the middle of Inverclyde, and hope to appeal to a wide audience. It’s a great location looking out over the water towards Helensburgh, with excellent views. We hope it is going to be an excellent place to come and enjoy a coffee or a beer as well as watching theatrical events.”
Mr Kanani added: “The Growing Community Assets programme has always been able to improve the capability of communities to look after themselves by providing capital and resources with structured support. The new centre will be a fitting example of what this kind of funding can achieve. What we have today is a shining example of how you can bring together place, opportunity and ownership to start to turn a community around.”
Councillor Jim Clocherty, Inverclyde Council’s regeneration convener, said: “The new Arts Guild is one of the flagship projects in our regeneration plans for the whole of Inverclyde. We have committed £2.5m and I am delighted significant extra funding has been secured from the Big Lottery Fund. “Once completed, the theatre will be at the centre of a transformed waterfront and at the heart of the community.”
