The lease for Margate’s historic Theatre Royal is now being marketed as Thanet council moves forward with its plan to find an operator.
The Theatre Royal, constructed in 1787 making it the second oldest operating theatre in Britain, has been allocated £6m from the Margate Town Deal fund for its refurbishment and reopening.
In March 2021, £2.2m of Margate Town Deal’s £22.2m funding was allocated to the Theatre Royal scheme following the venue’s closure in April 2022 when the lease agreement with operator Your Leisure was ended.
Last year a further £2.8m of Margate Town Deal funding from a ditched highways and public realm project was reallocated to the theatre.
This year a further £1m, left from the highways scheme, was also agreed for reallocation. This makes the theatre’s overall budget £6m, with some of that already spent on designs and a masterplan and works to make the building watertight.
The grade II* listed building will undergo works to sensitively restore the heritage, while delivering a modern venue of 465-480 seats. Improvements will include restored interior decoration, renewed seating and carpets, new toilets, bar and box office facilities, upgraded sound and lighting infrastructure, reinstatement of the orchestra pit, and new ventilation, wiring and drainage systems.
Back-of-house works include new accessible dressing rooms and an upgraded stage door entrance. Externally the façade is being restored, the roof repaired with solar panels and the street upgraded with new paving.
Thanet District Council is inviting offers on a Full Repair and Insuring leasehold basis for a term up to 99 years. Organisations that are interested in using the building but not operating it are also invited to express interest.
Thanet council says a lease agreement would make the project financially sustainable and more resilient for the long term.
Phase Two of the refurb scheme will be the renovation and refurbishment of 19 Hawley Square – also owned by Thanet council- providing a performing arts centre and artist accommodation. A funding plan is in place, but funds are currently unsecured.
However, operators are being offered the chance to lease the whole or part of the Hawley Square building as part of the agreement on the basis that it is used for ancillary or operational use in support of the theatre’s activities.
The marketing materials say Thanet council will work with the operator to plan how the building is to be used and potentially secure funding.
Phase Three of the scheme will involve further decarbonisation of the theatre operation with renewable energy technology. Funding and partnership discussions are being undertaken, but funds are currently unsecured.
The Theatre Royal and 19 Hawley Square Masterplan has been costed at £7.2m across both buildings, and £4.1m for the selected phase one scheme which is to reopen the Theatre.
Some 16 interested operators came forward in a 2024 marketing exercise with seven progressing to the next stage. Thanet council officers have kept in contact with those potential operators.
The aim is to reopen the Theatre Royal in 2027.
Are the external changes meant to be an improvement. ? Personally it just looks like another box. When will architects start putting character back into buildings both residential and commercial.