New Plans unveiled for Arts Centre in the North West

07/05/2008

The Arts Council of Northern Ireland congratulated The Playhouse on taking a step forward in the development of an exciting refurbished arts centre for the North West today (Wednesday 7 th May). This afternoon The Playhouse announced its architecture plans and launched a sponsorship campaign to encourage the business community to support the wealth of artistic talent which exists within the North West.

The Playhouse has received £1.1m from the Arts Council through its National Lottery funds towards the restoration, refurbishment and extension of the historic arts building which will keep The Playhouse in the heart of Derry City Centre.

Lorraine Calderwood, Capital Projects Officer, Arts Council of Northern Ireland, attended the event in the Playhouse’s temporary home, St Columb’s Hall, and said, “This is an exciting step forward for the Playhouse and they must be credited for not only introducing a completely refurbished arts centre to the North West but for preserving the City’s historic listed buildings. We appreciate that this venue will not only meet the needs of the North West’s residents but will also boost our region’s cultural economy.”

The refurbished Playhouse will boast modern facilities such as; a dance studio, extra workshop space, educational facilities, spacious theatre and auditorium, new reception area, Café bar and much more.

Pauline Ross, Founder and Director of The Playhouse stated: “The Playhouse is delighted today to be launching our architectural plans and sponsorship campaign for Artillery Street. It only seems a blink of an eye from when The Playhouse set up in these wonderful buildings in 1992, and although they have been bustlingly with activity ever since, these much loved buildings were in need of major renovation. We are delighted with the support over the years particularly from the general public; our successful “BBC Restoration” campaign typified this support.”