Action needed to stop Darlington Civic Theatre going into decline

7:00am Wednesday 3rd October 2012 in News Photograph of the Author By Vicki Henderson, Darlington reporter

Darlington Civic Theatre Darlington Civic Theatre

EXPERTS have warned that one of the region’s oldest theatres is in need of major refurbishment if it is to compete with other venues in the coming years.

Often described as the “jewel in the crown” of Darlington, the town’s Civic Theatre was saved from closure last year by Darlington Borough Council and attracts a wide range of local, national and international productions.

But a report produced for the borough council’s cabinet by historic theatre consultants, Theatre Search, has warned that the grade II-listed building is no longer fit for purpose and needs significant expenditure and modernisation if it is to attract theatre companies in the future.

The restoration plans are at an early stage, but it is hoped that any work could be carried out by 2016 if a bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund, which could provide up to 90 per cent of the funding, is successful.

The council brought in Theatre Search earlier this year with a view to making short to medium-term improvements to the theatre, which is based in Parkgate, but the report from the consultants has made clear that the council must take a more radical approach.

Among the list of issues to be considered are the theatre’s mechanical and electrical services, toilets, technical aspects backstage, employee facilities, disability compliance, seating, decoration and sustainability.

The Theatre Search report said: “It is clear that the Civic Theatre is now in need of urgent attention if it is to continue to attract high quality performances and significant attendances.

“Other competitors such as the Empire Theatre Sunderland and the Theatre Royal Newcastle have had significant capital investment in recent years and this inevitably reflects poorly upon the Civic Theatre.

“The theatre is at a crossroads and needs to take urgent remedial action in order to stem an imminent downward spiral.”

On Tuesday, councillors will be asked to spend £50,000 to cover the first stage of an application to the Heritage Lottery Fund, which would include conservation plans, surveys and digital drawings.

A report prepared by council officers said: “The key priorities of the refurbishment project is to ensure that the Civic Theatre continues to attract high quality performances with significant attendances.

“To do that, significant refurbishment is required to ensure that the back-stage facilities remain attractive to producers, directors and performers into the medium and long term.

“An attractive, strong Civic Theatre can play an important role in ensuring that the borough has good cultural life.”

Any businesses which would be prepared to sponsor part of the refurbishment are asked to call 01325-388962 or email communications@ darlington.gov.uk

Comments(19)

BMD says...
8:51am Wed 3 Oct 12

The Theatre Search report is comparing Darlington (Town) to Newcastle and Sunderland (Cities); surely this can’t be a report to be taken seriously!

But you could scrap the wheelie bins to fund the project!

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Quaker Boy says...
8:52am Wed 3 Oct 12

As the article mentions this is the "jewel in the crown" of Darlington and must be preserved but hang on, how much is the Council wasting on wheelie-bins? So they would rather have them than putting the money towards saving this grade-II listed building for future generations? I think someone has their priorities all wrong.

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kristal27 says...
9:25am Wed 3 Oct 12

Quaker Boy wrote:
As the article mentions this is the "jewel in the crown" of Darlington and must be preserved but hang on, how much is the Council wasting on wheelie-bins? So they would rather have them than putting the money towards saving this grade-II listed building for future generations? I think someone has their priorities all wrong.
Yet another inflammatory headline by the Northern Echo. the headline suggests the Council in some way has been inept in letting the Civic go to ruin , but the article then reports on how pro-active the Council has been in trying to find a solution. The Council 'saved' the civic theatre last year -I presume some sort of monetary injection from Council funds was involved in this rescue. The council will be asked on Tuesday to inject another £50k into the funds - until the council actually say NO then how can you accuse them of getting their priorities wrong? and what has this to do with Wheelie bins ?

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Quaker Boy says...
10:48am Wed 3 Oct 12

So where does this £50k come from then?

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BMD says...
10:49am Wed 3 Oct 12

kristal27 wrote:
Quaker Boy wrote: As the article mentions this is the "jewel in the crown" of Darlington and must be preserved but hang on, how much is the Council wasting on wheelie-bins? So they would rather have them than putting the money towards saving this grade-II listed building for future generations? I think someone has their priorities all wrong.
Yet another inflammatory headline by the Northern Echo. the headline suggests the Council in some way has been inept in letting the Civic go to ruin , but the article then reports on how pro-active the Council has been in trying to find a solution. The Council 'saved' the civic theatre last year -I presume some sort of monetary injection from Council funds was involved in this rescue. The council will be asked on Tuesday to inject another £50k into the funds - until the council actually say NO then how can you accuse them of getting their priorities wrong? and what has this to do with Wheelie bins ?
Kristal27 the £50,000 to cover the first stage of an application to the Heritage Lottery Fund, which would include conservation plans, surveys and digital drawings. This doesn’t include any refurbishment or on-site modifications!

The wheelie bins are costing £1 Million for purchase and £300,000 extra per year to operate, in this time of austerity a section of the public believe this is extravagant!

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Spy Boy says...
7:05pm Wed 3 Oct 12

I wonder who else could be to blame for the running down of The Civic ? Can't actually think of anyone other than the council. The Arts Centre and The Civic have had little of no investment from the council for years. You only had to visit the venues to see how dilapidated they were getting.

The Arts Centre was also refered to as the Jewel in the Crown, only a few years before Bill Dixon said that it was unfit for purpose. They've dumped the Arts Centre, which was a very loved building and now they look to be going the same way with the Civic. I think the people at The Civic have done a grand job to keep it going and providing us with some class acts, with the millstone of DBC causing a fair amount of drag.

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holmesc1 says...
8:09pm Wed 3 Oct 12

hope it stays open seen come good acts here. Its a lovely thearte with great accoustics. Been to sunderland empire once and found it a bit souless and too big darlington is more compact. If this shut there would be nothing else like it in area

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MST1975 says...
9:09pm Wed 3 Oct 12

DBC run the civic like they run everything else. Badly. It's as simple as that. Prioritise in the wrong place. They put their egos above anything and everything else.

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greenroom says...
9:26am Thu 4 Oct 12

Running any theatre in times of economic hardship is a difficult task for anyone - be they a private company or a local Council. Yes, DBC have a duty to keep the Civic Theatre running but the theatre is there for the use of the public and it is OUR duty to use the theatre, to buy tickets to the fabulous productions that are staged there month in month out... Theatre is not elitist, it is accessible to all. I am involved in a production of Footloose to be staged at the Civic Theatre later this month, I have been involved in theatre productions for over 40 years, have performed in many theatres around the country and Darlington should be proud of their Theatre - one of the most beautiful I have had the pleasure to perform at. The argument to keep the Theatre open will become harder to put across if audience figures decline... £18 for a ticket to see Footloose, for example, is (in my opinion) great value for money to see LIVE entertainment and to experience a night out at the theatre. I urge people who may never have walked through the doors of the Civic to try at least one production in the next 6 months - the Panto, a play or (and I am biased of course) Footloose. Once you have been you will be hooked. And it is OUR money that will help keep the Civic a thriving cultural hub for the town.... don't just rely on your Council to throw money at it. Footloose opens on 24th October for 10 nights, tickets are available to purchase online at www.darlingtonos.org
.uk

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Copley23 says...
9:09am Fri 5 Oct 12

Well said Greenroom.

I as just wondering how many/how often the above commentators go to the Civic.......and how often they would use their wheelie bins........

:-)

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Spy Boy says...
9:06pm Fri 5 Oct 12

I go to the theatre quite a lot. The Civic really is a great old building and must be kept. Maybe if it was run by someone other than a council who have other agendas, such as wheelie bins, then it could attract better arts funding and also funding from our heritage groups.

I agree with some of the above comments; the council run all their services badly.

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doonhamer says...
4:37pm Sat 6 Oct 12

Wheelie, this has nothing to do with bins. When things go scew whiff in Darlo scapegoats always have to be found. The Council, George Reynolds, Raj Singh, The Local MP, in fact anyone but the public themselves who don't attend sporting fixtures, theatres, cinemas etc in sufficient numbers to keep the respective organisations/clubs solvent. Throwing good money after bad never works, if people are saving money during a recession they will not fork out for what will inevitably be higher prices in a refurbished building (check Newcastle's Theatre Royal for example). Tough on the regular Theatre goers, just like the Loyal Football fans, but everyone has to attain a certain level and then sustain the quality at that level without trying to attain the unattainable

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harry2 says...
7:48pm Sat 6 Oct 12

I love the civic and would go a lot more if it wasn't for the price of the tickets, I also think it would fill up more .

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Lifetime Townie says...
8:30pm Sat 6 Oct 12

Signs of neglect could mean that the council decision to abandon the civic has already been taken. Similar past examples come to mind like High Row shambles and the Arts Centre where any routine maintenance was kept to a bare minimum before the official decisions were announced. We need the Civic for reasons obvious to the public, greatly more than we need the silly and expensive bin project..

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Jan Van-Winkel says...
10:24am Sun 7 Oct 12

Unfortunately, as buildings such as this have to comply with ever increasing legislation on everything from wheelchair access to how much water is used to flush the toilet, Councils/owners/prop
rietors all have to use the services of 'Consultants' before anything can be done.
This, as anyone knows, is just a cash-cow for the consultants and an huge drain on resources which otherwise might be put to said renovation. Coupled with this is the highly expensive 'Application Process' (£50k is a lot of money to make an application)

Common sense (younger readers you might have to look that phrase up) should prevail and Councils across the whole UK should share expertise to eliminate the need for such consultants. If I remember correctly from my past, all Councils use to employ a 'Borough Solicitor', or similar, to do this sort of research as part of their daily routine. Is this not the case any more? Excuse my naivety if not so.

I like the Civic, I like it a lot. But, if it is not sustainable in the present environment by the Council, moves should begin to transfer it to someone who can sustain it for the benefit of all.

When citing ticket costs as part of the problem it is worth noting that a half full theatre with patrons paying £20 per ticket is less revenue than a full theatre with patrons paying £15 per ticket! Food for thought...

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kristal27 says...
6:28pm Mon 8 Oct 12

Anyone who thinks theatre going is non elitist is living in cloud cuckoo land . £20 per ticket means at least £40 for a night out (who goes to the theatre on their own?) before drinky-poos at half time.
The pantomime is the worst offender - we would have had to fork out £120 last year to take the grand- kids (oh yes we would) -a bit pricey for a night out and that's not including drinks and ice creams.
personally I would rather see Darlington bin bag free with nice smart wheelie bins in the back streets, and let private enterprise inject some cash into the theatre -how about ' the bannatyne hippodrome' -maybe someone should approach our local entrepreneur -or maybe he has more sense?

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GeorgeAlexander says...
10:28am Tue 9 Oct 12

If memory serves DBC did put out the Civic to private tender last year, the only serious bidder wanted a huge cash injection to take it on. Newcastle and Sunderland have had substantial grants from Arts Council to upgrade but that was in a different era of public spending. Both those theatres have larger stages than Darlington and that has a major impact on the type and size of productions that can be staged.

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GeorgeAlexander says...
10:28am Tue 9 Oct 12

If memory serves DBC did put out the Civic to private tender last year, the only serious bidder wanted a huge cash injection to take it on. Newcastle and Sunderland have had substantial grants from Arts Council to upgrade but that was in a different era of public spending. Both those theatres have larger stages than Darlington and that has a major impact on the type and size of productions that can be staged.

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greenroom says...
10:46am Tue 9 Oct 12

I think cost is a huge factor for people visiting the theatre, but when you can get 2 tickets for just £32 at selected performancs of Footloose, to see a top quality show I personally think that is great value that many people could afford. If you were to go out for a meal (I don't mean to Burger King) you would not be able to do it much cheaper. You will also find great deals on family tickets for many shows - 4 tickets for just £60, just £15 a ticket.... with a trip to the cinema now nearly reaching £10 a ticket, live theatre... watching a unique performance.... with a live orchestra to be moved to tears or reduced to a laughing wreck is worth every penny of admission.

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