Builth Wells’ Wyeside Arts Centre has secured substantial grants to refurbish its famous Market Theatre.The Market Hall was last upgraded nearly 20 years ago: the new works will enhance the audience’s experience with new seating arranged in one continuous tier, improved lighting, and redevelopment of the arrangement of the space. This will result in much more flexibility to create a space for different activities and increased operating efficiency. Wyeside will be able to run a broader programme of workshops and community events, provide improved staging possibilities for the actors, dancers and musicians who perform there. Film-goers will also benefit from the improvements in both seating comfort and acoustics. The £190,000 project is being funded by grants from the Aggregates Levy Fund for Wales, Powys County Council, the Foyle Foundation, the Friends of Wyeside and other anonymous donors (see information for editors). Members of the Board and staff of Wyeside worked closely with Powys County Council to identify sources of funding and apply for grants. The Market Theatre will be closed from January to March 2012. But the centre will stay open throughout, with a full cinema programme in the Castle Cinema and other ‘winter warmer’ events in the Gallery and Foyer. Wyeside Chairperson, Barbara Stow said, “The new Market Theatre will give audiences a much more comfortable and enjoyable experience in this wonderfully intimate space. “We’re all feeling really confident about the future. The support we’ve had from the community, from funders and other arts organisations over the past 18 months has encouraged us to make lots of plans for the cinema and live events, and for a fuller community programme (including drama for young people), so Wyeside remains a great place to take the family.” “This is fantastic news!” said Robyn Lewis, Builth High School’s Drama Teacher. “The Market is a unique performance space, and a real asset to the town. We had a great time doing ‘The Wizard of Oz’ there last year – our kids think the space is just fab! It’s great to know we can go on putting on shows there, as well as bringing groups to see films and live events in such a wonderful setting.” Chris Baldwin of ACT Consultants has been appointed to design and manage the theatre redevelopment. This is a case of history coming full circle. In 1976 Chris was appointed by Donald Pryse Jones, the inspirational first Chair of Wyeside, to manage the conversion of the Market Hall Buildings to create Wyeside Arts Centre. Chris is now a distinguished theatre consultant who has worked on new theatres in Wrexham, Nottingham, Northampton, Wolverhampton, Trinidad and Cambridge, and on the refurbishment of theatre spaces in Berlin, Oporto and Frankfurt. Chris says: “The Wyeside building, and the Market Theatre in particular, have a unique character that both performers and audiences find irresistible – the management team and Wyeside supporters are to be applauded for sustaining and developing Donald Jones’ vision for the arts in mid-Wales” The Market refurbishment is not the only way Wyeside is being improved. Earlier this year, scaffolding surrounded the famous landmark building so specialist masons could repair decorative stonework on its façade. This major step was part-funded by a Powys County Council Community Enablement Grant: but Wyeside’s tireless Friends organisation – led by its Chair, Wendy Evans - still had to match the grant by raising 50% of the costs. “When the market hall was first built in 1877, it was the height of fashion to be seen entering its elegant doors” said Wendy. “We want to ensure Wyeside’s dramatic architecture – which is familiar to virtually everyone in Wales – looks good for many years to come. This will be a 5-year project –we’ve made a start, but there’s much more to do and we still need more people to help our fundraising effort by ‘Sponsoring a Stone’.” To find out how you can support the restoration by ‘sponsoring a stone’ see Wyeside’s website to donate online or pick up a form from the Wyeside Box Office. |
| Wyeside Arts Centre web site: www.wyeside.co.uk |
| e-mail: marketing@wyeside.co.uk |
Wednesday, October 12, 2011 |
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